


Compromising Positions

by phillydragonldy



Category: Smallville
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-16 06:24:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3477785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phillydragonldy/pseuds/phillydragonldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A disaster is in the making, and Chloe and Lex need to work together to stop it.  But as the unexpected sparks fly, the sides waver, and they are forced to reconsider what they each thought to be true.<br/>Rating: PG - NC-17 depending upon chapter<br/>Timeline: Season 7 AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story has a lot of what I think of as "Smallville Science." Which is to say, it is in no way related to actual science. So roll with me on it. If anyone could actually do this stuff, Lex could. :)

 Awesome Banner by: [malugargula](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/8304.html?view=14448#t14448)

 

The email read simply:  
  
_Chloe,_  
  
_Please meet me up in Grant Gabriel's office now._  
  
_\--LL_  
  
_P.S. - Do not mistake my use of "please" to see this as a request._  
  
  
It came from the address lex.luthor@luthorcorp.com  
  
There was no way this was good news.

* * *

  
  
"Alright, Lex.  I'm here.  What do you want?" Chloe challenged as she let the door to the Daily Planet editor-in-chief's office close with a slam.  
  
Lex didn't flinch at the noise or the challenge.  He just stood calmly gazing out the large window at the city of Metropolis below.  Chloe imagined he felt like the King of the Universe in his immaculately tailored dark suit, purple dress shirt, and perfectly smooth scalp.  The dramatic view of the city behind him felt like a backdrop set up just for him.  
  
Chloe nearly rolled her eyes at the little tableau he made for himself.  
  
In his own time, Lex turned away to face the annoyed blonde standing before him.  "Hello to you too, Chloe."  
  
Chloe snorted derisively.  "Oh, please, Lex.  Cut the crap.  Why did you drag me up here?"  
  
Lex smirked in reply.  That self-satisfied expression made Chloe's hand itch to slap it off his face.  "I'm sure the story about the Brookville Antique Show will leave readers frantic for more, but this is important."  
  
Chloe narrowed her eyes and folded her arms under her chest.  "Fine.  Back to my question then.  What do you want?"  
  
Lex looked her up and down pointedly, taking in her green sweater, dark knee-length skirt, and practical heels.  The strange once-over gave Chloe the feeling she should run for the hills.  
  
Too bad running away wasn't part of her nature.  So instead, she straightened her spine and met Lex's gaze unflinchingly.  
  
He smiled with wicked humor.  "Why, I need a nosy investigator, of course."

* * *

  
  
Chloe blinked in surprise.  She couldn't help it.  That was about the last thing she would have expected.  When he had called her up here, she had figured Lex had some new torment or belittling assignment to aim at her.  Something to crush another small part of her dream of working under the Tiffany lights.  Not...this.  
  
She spoke very slowly, to make sure she understood.  "You want me to investigate something...for you?"  
  
He was still smirking.  "As I recall, you used to enjoy investigating.  Or rather, snooping.  Has all that changed?  Have you found your true calling writing about craft fairs and lost kittens?"  
  
Chloe didn't respond, just gave him her best glare.  She had earned her spot at the Daily Planet under Pauline Kahn, and she wouldn't let Lex belittle that.  Sure, maybe she had hoped to be writing more high profile stories like Lois kept getting, but then Lois was...  
  
She quickly halted that thought before it could show on her face.  
  
Seeing she wasn't going to respond to his jab, Lex sighed.  He lifted a manila folder from a stack of papers and tossed it over to her side of the desk.  "Well, even so, I'm going to take the risk that the nosy girl I knew is still in there."  
  
Chloe didn't move.  
  
Speaking slowly, with exaggerated patience Lex said, "Chloe, it would really be in your best interest to take a look at that."  
  
She still didn't move.  
  
Lex sighed again.  "Fine then."  He turned back to face the window and spoke without looking at her, his words coming out full and strong.  "A few years ago a tainted shipment of Luthorcorp material was slotted to be destroyed.  We had always believed it safely disposed of.  Unfortunately, some evidence has recently come to light that was not the case."  
  
"Sucks to be you."  
  
Even facing away from her, she could tell he smirked again at her snarky comment.  "The material was meteor-rock tainted fertilizer from the Number Three plant in Smallville.  The event happened while I was in charge."  He paused and glanced back over his shoulder at her.  "As for why I requested you...open the folder."  
  
A sick feeling hit Chloe's stomach as she placed the timing and location of the incident.  She wasn't exactly sure what Lex was going to show her, but she had a sinking suspicion she wouldn't like it.  Feeling like she was moving through quicksand, she picked up the manila folder.  Slowly she opened the slim file.  Sitting on top of the small stack of papers was a document with the Luthorcorp logo emblazoned on the top.  Scanning farther down she saw it was a shipping and transfer manifest for the destruction of some tainted soil, just as Lex had mentioned.  That wasn't what arrested her attention.  At the bottom, as clear and unmistakable as day, was the signature that confirmed the shipment had been properly destroyed.  
  
It was signed by Gabe Sullivan, Plant Manager.  
  
_Oh, crap._  
  
Lex had gone back to gazing out the window as she read over the document.  She could see the smirk had never left his face.  Chloe tried to school her expression, but she feared Lex knew exactly what she was thinking.  He thought he had her trapped.  
  
And damn him, he was right.  
  
Still, she tried for nonchalance.  Closing the folder without looking through any of the other papers within, she asked, "Ok, so why are you bringing this to me?  Why not take it up with my father?"  
  
Lex turned back around to face her, even going so far as to place his hands on Grant's desk as he leaned towards her.  She knew it for a "power move" and forced herself to hold her ground.  She saw a flicker of something that may have been respect or maybe pleasure in his eye when she failed to react.  He should know her better than that to think she would be cowed so easily.   Intuition told her that standing her ground caused him to reassess how he would respond.  She was even more sure when his voice came out firm and reasonable without any more hints at threat.  "Because Chloe, I need to know what _actually_ happened to it.  If your father _was_ involved in the disappearance, he will do one of two things."  Lex stood up from the desk and counted off on his fingers.  "One, he will lie and I'll need to waste valuable time hunting down the lies, which would give his partners time to cover their tracks.  Or Two, he will bolt, which means I will again have to waste time hunting him down."  
  
Lex caught her eyes and his expression made her think of a cat that held a mouse down by the tail.  "Besides, I know that by bringing it to you, there would be a real...motivation to find out the truth."  
  
Chloe tried for nonchalance again, but guessed she failed miserably once more.  "Don't think you can use him to motivate me.  My father and I have barely spoken for years now."  Her eyes turned hard.  "As I _know_ you are aware."  
  
Lex hadn't let his irksome smile drop, but something flickered in his eyes.  Something there and gone so fast she wasn't sure it was real.  It almost looked like...sorrow.  "Yes, Chloe.  I'm aware, but that won't matter.  He is still your family, and you would do anything to protect your family.  Just look at what happened to your cousin."  
  
Chloe felt a brush of panic.  _Did Lex know about what happened with Lois at Reeves Dam?  Did he know about her healing ability?  No, he couldn't.  If he did...no.  Best not to even think about that.  Just play it off._  
  
She saw him studying her expression, but she kept her face impassive.  She knew Lex well enough to know he wasn't above some fishing.  
  
He sighed.  "Anyway, Chloe, we both know you are going to look into it."  
  
_Crap, crap, and double crap.  He was right._  
  
Even though her relationship with her father had been irreparably torn by her decision to stand against Lionel Luthor...Gabe Sullivan was still her father.  She loved him and would do anything she could to protect him.  Even if she didn't think he would do that same.  Even against bad things he may have done...  
  
"Ok, let's say for argument's sake, that I was willing to look into this...why the sudden rush after all these years?  Are you being sued or something?  I could see how that would get you all in a huff if you or Luthorcorp could be held liable."  
  
"Check the folder again."  
  
Copying Lex's heavy sigh, she opened the folder again.  This time looking behind the shipping manifest.  There appeared to be about 5 large glossy photographs.  It was immediately obvious they were not taken by a professional.  They were blurry and poorly centered, with the graininess of a cheap disposable camera.  Everything about them indicated the photographer had taken them in a hurry.  
  
Leaning a hip against the desk, Lex started to explain.  "That manifest along with a disposable camera containing only those five photographs were delivered to me via courier today.  There were no prints on the camera and it was a brand sold nationally.  It didn't have a serial number.  Only thing of use off of it were those images."  
  
Chloe nodded though she wasn't really listening.  Gone were her thoughts this was only about Lex covering his ass from a legal suit.  The five images told a very frightening story.  
  
The first image was of a few of barrels with the Luthorcorp logo inside something that looked like a storehouse or factory.  
  
The second image was a close up of one of the barrels open.  Inside appeared to be dirt, or more likely, fertilizer.  Clearly visible in the dirt was a large concentration of green crystals.  Some of the crystals looked to be the size of marbles, while others were almost as fine as sand.  
  
The third image was of a factory.  A crane of some kind was lifting one of the Luthorcorp barrels.  It was fuzzy around the edges, but behind the crane, it looked like a massive tank of dirt.  The image left no doubt in Chloe's mind the crane was dumping the barrel contents in with that dirt.  
  
The fourth image looked like some sort of giant industrial egg beater.  Except this beater was mixing dirt.  The dirt had the deep healthy black of rich loamy soil.  As long as you ignored the green flecks of crystal.  
  
The last image was the most disturbing of all.  It appeared to be part of a label mock-up.  In bright green letters over a white background and it read "NOW WITH ENRICHING CRYSTALS!"  
  
Chloe understood instantly and looked at Lex with large, startled eyes.  
  
He nodded, seeing she understood.  There wasn't even a hint of a smirk now.  He looked serious and...dangerous.  "I see you understand.  It looks like someone got a hold of that meteor-rock tainted material and is mixing it in with clean soil for distribution."  
  
Chloe felt her blood run cold again.  "They want to get it out to farmers and gardeners."  Chloe grabbed one of the two chairs facing Grant's desk to steady herself.  When that wasn't enough, she sat down heavily, visions of Jody Melville and her meteor-rock tainted greenhouse coming to mind.  Jody had developed an appalling craving for fat -- including human body fat.  She had even tried to _eat_ her friend Pete.  And now someone was trying to do that _intentionally._ "It'll poison the food, poison God-knows-how-many people."  
  
"Yes," Lex replied simply.  "I would normally have set my own investigators on it, but I don't think working this with my usual contacts is safe.  To pull this off, I think someone within Luthorcorp may be involved.  The list of potential suspects is huge.  The mole -- if I am right about there being one -- may not even be with Luthorcorp anymore, but there is no way of knowing in time."  He paused, thinking a moment before he continued.  "I also don't want to scare off whoever it is that sent me this warning.  They took a tremendous risk in getting this evidence to me.  They must know I wouldn't brush off the dangers of meteor rock.  Most people don't appreciate the hazards of exposure."  Stabbing a finger at the pictures for emphasis, he declared, "This is a call for help that I won't ignore."  He paused and looked at her hard.  "That said, of all the people that know about the meteor rocks and the danger they represent, there is only one person I would trust to look into this that I am sure wouldn't have been involved."  
  
Chloe matched his hard look.  "Me."  
  
Lex nodded.  "You."  
  
Chloe broke away from Lex's almost hypnotically pulling look.  She had forgotten how magnetic he could be.  "Ok, so let's say I agree to look into this missing material.  What if I find something that does incriminate my fa--....Luthorcorp of wrongdoing?"  
  
Lex smiled.  Her slip was obvious, but he let it lie.  "I know for a fact that I and no one above me was involved in any scheme to hide the fraudulent disposal of hazardous material.  So any wrongdoing would be limited to the lower levels of the organization."  His eyes became hard.  "As long as we can keep that material from being distributed, we can resolve this with minimal impact.  But if that fertilizer gets out, it will be a disaster and heads at all levels will have to roll.  So we have to track who has it, how it got out, if there is more, and put a stop to it."  
  
Chloe knew he was right, and she knew that in all good conscience that she would have to help, but... "You didn't say what would happen to any 'lower level' employees that may have been involved."  
  
Lex's smile was nasty.  "I suggest they find lawyers."  
  
Chloe shook her head.  "Not good enough, Lex.  Luthorcorp must render them any sort of help they need.  Up to and including agreeing to pay for defense attorney's of their choosing."  
  
"Not a chance!"  
  
"That's my price, Lex."  
  
Lex waved an arm to indicate the Daily Planet around them.  "I could fire you, you know."  
  
"Oh yeah?  Then you would be down a reporter and still not have an investigator."  She paused, letting the next words sink in.  "At least, not an investigator that had any concerns for Luthorcorp."  
  
They held each other's eyes for a long moment, testing the resolution of the other.  They both knew that now she was aware of it -- not to mention her father's possible involvement -- nothing was going to stop Chloe from investigating on her own.  Though with her limited resources, it was a dangerous bet if she could do anything in time.  On the Luthorcorp side, with a possible mole working against him, Lex would be hampered in his research by his own notoriety.  And they both knew that material had to be kept contained at all costs.  If the tainted fertilizer was distributed to farmers and retailers, it could cause incredible amounts of grief as hundreds or possibly thousands of new people were exposed to the poisonous rock.  
  
The best way of stopping the possible disaster was to work together, pooling resources and knowledge.  
  
"Fine then."  Lex finally agreed.  Then he checked his watch.  "Grant should be here in just a moment for a meeting.  I'll request that he assign you to work with me for the next week.  I'll tell him you are working on a profile piece."  
  
Chloe nodded.  "Alright.  I'll start some digging.  And I'll need any and all evidence that you have found."  
  
Lex pointed to the manila envelope she still held.  "All I have is right there."  
  
Chloe looked at the slim folder that had only contained six pages.  "Well, glad to see this isn't going to be a challenge or anything."  
  
Lex smiled again, but for the first time since she had walked in the room, she saw it reach his eyes.  
  
_Challenge accepted._

* * *

  
  
As he watched Chloe leave Grant's office, Lex couldn't help but smile to himself.  He had known she wouldn't be able to resist the challenge.  
  
Even if it was to help **_him_**.  
  
The opportunity to prevent a meteor-rock fueled disaster, vindicate her father, and poke her nose where it really had no business being, easily outweighed the minor fact that she would be helping out a Luthor.  
  
How strange that felt.  To have Chloe Sullivan working on his side again after so many years of her not-too-subtle attempts to undermine him.   Things had once been different.  For one summer they had been on the same side, they had shared a purpose.  But that was a long time ago now.  Since then, they had been engaged in mostly silent battle.  Sometimes when he had matched against her, that he felt she saw it as he did.  That Clark and his secret were just one of the battles they waged.  That most of their battles had been about something else.  A need to prove one or the other of them was smarter, more capable, a better defender for the world.  
  
Because of that he had no doubt.  He fought for the world against the dangers he saw -- aliens and meteor freaks with incredible abilities.  That was what his secret projects and ethically questionable experiments were really about.  
  
And she fought for how she saw it -- enormous potential and a need for truth.  To move in the shadows, disrupting his plans to bring them into the light.  To expose all the secrets and lies to the world for its protection.  
  
It was so odd then that she herself kept so many secrets.  But then again, except for her meteor ability -- if it had manifested -- most of the secrets she kept were because of loyalty.  That was something Lex could appreciate.  He had experienced so little loyalty in his life that when he saw it, it felt almost sacred to him.  
  
He moved to the sideboard and pulled out the bottle of scotch and a glass he had sent to Grant.  He had wanted to be sure there would be something drinkable if he stopped by to visit his brother.  Tipping a healthy portion of the liquor into the crystal glass, he took his drink to the window.  The view from here wasn't as good as the one from his own Luthorcorp office, but it was still respectable.  Looking out at the busy city below, Lex switched his mental focus from his blonde partner to the work to come.  With Sullivan looking into it, he didn't doubt that all the dirty little secrets surrounding the theft of the meteor-rock tainted material would surface.  The only outstanding questions were if they could do it in time to prevent a disaster...and how she would react if her father turned out to be as dirty as the fertilizer he had stolen.  
  
Because Lex was pretty sure the Luthorcorp insider had been Gabe Sullivan.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Of all the ways Chloe had expected to spend her night, sharing a couch amicably with Lex Luthor was not even on the top 100 possibilities she would have picked.  In fact, being within a mile radius of Lex Luthor or his mansion hadn't even cracked the top 500 options she would have expected.  That she was close enough to smell the scent of his cologne (something clean and fresh-smelling) and the surprising warmth radiating from him, would normally have only gotten a laugh at the sheer impossibility of it.  She couldn't remember the last time their interactions hadn't been tainted with something -- suspicion, hate, anger, and even pity.  But this was...none of those things.  This was...almost familiar, but from so long ago it was nearly forgotten.  
  
Working together -- with Lex Luthor -- to take down a dangerous evil.  
  
And they hadn't even tried to kill each other yet.  
  
But then again, hadn't he just given her the chance to do what she lived for?  Investigate and expose the truth to protect people?  
  
She slanted a look at the man next to her.  Though the "expose" part may or may not happen.  She didn't trust for one moment that Lex wouldn't do whatever he saw fit to protect his company, his name, and his freedom.  So it was up to her to do the same for her father.  
  
She pulled her attention back to the task at hand.  Her investigation had already yielded some results.  She pulled up the transfer order record from the Luthorcorp server and tilted the laptop slightly to face Lex.  "So it looks like the tainted material was sent to a company called Optimus Enterprises for destruction in specially marked Luthorcorp shipping containers.  These containers were then returned to Luthorcorp after the material was destroyed to be reused when and if more tainted material was found and also needed to destroyed.  It looks like the return of these containers was taken as 'confirmation of destruction' by my fath-- by Luthorcorp."  
  
"You should just say it, you know." Lex responded, leaning in close to look at the manifests that Chloe had pulled up.  His scent filled her nose in a strangely distracting way.  
  
"Say what?" she replied, trying to sound innocent and not at all aware of his unusual closeness.  
  
"You should just say 'my father.'  You keep trying to make this look like it was a corporate action, Chloe, but it wasn't.  This wasn't Luthorcorp being the Big Bad."  He paused and caught her eyes, smiling.  "This wasn't _me_ being the Big Bad."  Then he looked back at the manifest again.  "Believe it or not, there was a time when I was trying to do right by this town and its people."  
  
Chloe didn't know how to respond to that.  He was right, of course.  There had been a time he had tried to be a good man in ways both big and small.  Once he had offered himself as a hostage to the meteor infected Earl Jenkins to save her and the rest of her captive Smallville High class.  Then when his father was going to close the plant that was the lifeblood of the town, he had stood up for them and gone freelance.  Even when the Kents were about to lose their farm, he had stepped in and saved it in thanks for a small token from Johnathan Kent.  But mostly, she thought of how he had risked his own life and hers to seek justice against his father for the murders of his grandparents.  She thought how much he had risked to keep her safe and...No.  
  
That was many years ago.  He wasn't that man now.  
  
Now he was the man that experimented on the meteor infected...those like her and her mother.  He was the man that gave his own wife hormones to make her think she was pregnant.  He was the man that if he learned about Clark, would do only-God-knew-what to him.  
  
Still a part of her whispered... _But here he was now, trying to keep the hazardous material from getting out.  Trying to protect people from the poisoning, when he could just let it happen._ It would be so much easier to just set her father up as a patsy to take the fall.  Instead, Lex was taking a risk in involving Luthorcorp in the search, when he could have been focusing on damage control.  
  
Chloe cleared her throat, pushing the confusing thoughts aside.  "Anyway, I think that is where we should start.  We need to track down those shipping containers.  The ones Luthorcorp used were specifically made to contain the contaminated material.  They were lead-lined and had individual serial numbers.  We should compare the manifests to the serial numbers of the barrels that Luthorcorp has.  If those barrels have been modified, or the serial numbers don't match, or are missing, that would give us a clue as to where the material may have gone missing."  
  
Lex nodded and looked at the laptop screen.  "Makes sense.  Where are the barrels supposed to be now?"  
  
Chloe smiled and pointed to the correct section of the screen.  "Well at the Smallville #3 plant of course."  
  
"Ah yes, of course."  Lex smiled back and it was strange to see his eyes fill with humor.  "And for once, you won't even have to break in to a Luthorcorp facility to investigate."  
  
Chloe chose not to comment though her smile did broaden.  
  


* * *

  
  
As Lex had promised, they walked right in through the front door even though it was the middle of the night.  The security guard at the gate was surprised to see them, but Lex was pretty unmistakable.  The guard waved them through without comment, not even asking who Chloe was.  
  
She raised a brow at that.  Lex just shrugged.  "You're with me.  He assumes you had business here."  
  
Well, that was actually true.  Strange, but true.  
  
Lex pulled into the parking spot right next to the plant entrance that had a "Reserved for Lex Luthor" placard on it.  The only spot closer had a similar placard reading "Reserved for Lionel Luthor".  Lex swiped a keycard through the reader next to the door and they were in.  Placing the card back inside his jacket, Lex said, "Not that I don't trust you, Chloe, but I'll be getting a new keycard in the morning.  So if this one should happen to 'disappear' it won't do much good for anyone that should find it."  
  
Chloe smiled her sweetest smile in reply.  "Oh, Lex, you really think I'd need your keycard?"  
  
She only took a moment to enjoy Lex's expression which showed elements of surprise, confusion, and curiosity before moving on.  
  
She knew exactly where she needed to search first.  The storage room for the barrels and then the records room.  
  
It felt strange working on an investigation without Clark.  She had considered telling him about the missing meteor rock fertilizer, but had decided against it.  First, meteor rock tainted material in the quantity they were searching for could be deadly to Clark.  He was likely to rush in, and if it was no longer contained in lead-lined barrels, Clark would be in serious trouble.  Secondly, so far the evidence seemed to indicate that her father may have been complicit in hiding that the material hadn't been destroyed.  Lex hadn't said as much, but they both knew that just accepting that the barrels were sent back empty would not normally have been considered enough to confirm the material was destroyed properly.  So could it be that her father _was_ involved?  If so, she needed to figure out a way to protect him.  He may have turned his back on her, but she had never turned her back on him.  
  
Clark wouldn't understand that.  He would believe her father should be punished if he was guilty.  It was just how Clark was built.  He wouldn't let a criminal go free just because he was her father.  
  
She couldn't do that, to either of them.  
  
So here she was at the #3 plant in the middle of the night with the devil's bald representative on earth.  There had to be more records that could tell them what went wrong.  Records of the actual destruction being performed.  Records that might clear her father and show what actually happened.  
  
But first things first, they needed to search out the barrels.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Lex, I don't think these are Luthorcorp barrels at all.  Look."  Chloe pointed to the serial number placard on the side of one of the barrels.  The metal strip was considerably more worn that the metal of the barrel it was attached to.  It also seemed to not quite fit the barrel correctly, as if it was still adjusting to the shape of the barrel behind it.  
  
Lex hunkered down next to Chloe in the dim light of the storage room.  Even with the overhead lights on, they were using flashlights to read the small embossed print of the barrel labels.  
  
"I think you're right, Chloe."  Lex rapped his knuckles against the side of the barrel, which rang with a low hollow note.  "Sounds like they are heavy lead-lined barrels though.  So why replace the Luthorcorp barrels with newer versions of the same barrels?  Why the deception?  Why not just send back the original Luthorcorp barrels?"  
  
"Would it have been noticed if the type of barrel was changed?  From the heavy lead versions to a lighter metal?"  
  
"Maybe.  The barrels are filled based upon weight.  A lighter barrel would throw the scales off."  Lex was silent a moment, before springing back to his feet with a cry of "Shit!"  He ran a hand over his bald head in a gesture of frustration and started to pace.  
  
"What?  What is it?"  
  
"They want Luthorcorp barrels!"  
  
"Yeah, got that, but --"  
  
"No, think about it!  They want to make sure they had _genuine_ Luthorcorp barrels."  
  
"Umm, ok.  Why?"  
  
"Because when the real Luthorcorp barrels are found, there won't be any doubt to whom they belong.  Someone is setting us up.  Someone is going to a lot of trouble here -- making sure toxic material is being introduced into clean soil, acquiring genuine Luthorcorp shipping barrels.  They are building a disaster with all the evidence pointing straight at Luthorcorp.  And I bet they even..."  He spun on his heel and marched toward the door.  
  
Chloe rushed after him.  "What, Lex?  What is it?"  
  
"Records.  The records you were looking at online were digital copies."  
  
"Right.  Yeah.  I was trying to trace the trail of those barrels, but everything looked in order."  
  
"Yes, online.  It's easy to modify online records if you can crack the system."  He shot her a sideways glance.  "As I'm sure you know."  
  
Chloe chose not to dignify that statement with an answer beyond a little smirk of her own.  She had a sudden inkling what Lex was getting at.  She rushed to keep up with Lex's fast strides.  A few moments later he paused in from of a room with a simple placard reading "Records Room."  
  
He shot a victorious smile down at her and Chloe found herself grinning back.  Lex swiped his keycard against the reader, unlocking the door.  As the door swung open on the dark room, he said,  "I'd bet my Porsche they didn't think to change the paper records.  They probably only switched out the digital versions."  
  
Chloe wasn't about to take that bet.  
  


* * *

  
  
They made their way into the records room, Lex hitting the light switch next to the door, illuminating the space.  The room was large, nearly the size of a basketball court, and stuffed full of neatly organized rows of shelving and document boxes.  Chloe knew from her previous snoop...uh..."investigations" that paper copies of important documents were kept here for a period of ten years before they were destroyed.  That added up to a huge amount of paper, and took a lot of manpower to keep it updated and organized.  She had thought it to be overkill in the digital age.  Now she wasn't so sure.  Those paper copies may be the key to tracking down the mystery of the switched barrels.  
  
There was a computer at the front of the room and Chloe made her way over to it.  The easiest way to locate a specific record in the mountains of paper was to use the index on the terminal.  She swung out the desk chair and was in and searching a moment later.  She felt Lex looking at her sardonically as he drawled, "Why of course, Chloe, make yourself at home."  
  
"Oh please, Lex.  This is a generic database terminal.  Nothing special or Luthorcorp specific about it, so don't get your panties in a bunch.  The average fifth-grader could do this, so quit being so huffy about it being 'your property' and accusing me of misdeeds."  
  
Everything she had told him was of course all true, but that didn't mean she hadn't done this all before without his knowledge.  
  
"Ok, the shipping records concerning that shipment are stored in section 124-C.  Second shelf in a box labeled 1080-LC-OT."  
  
"Alright, I think that is down this way."  Lex began making his way down between rows of shelving stacked high with meticulously labeled document boxes.  Chloe got up from the terminal and followed behind.  
  
They located the proper section, Lex hunkered down to better see the boxes on the second shelf, which was about hip high.  Chloe watched as he trailed a finger over the labels on the boxes.  When he had identified the correct box, he heaved it from the shelf, and onto the floor.  Chloe moved around to better see into the box as Lex began working at the lid.  
  
Flipping through the files with long, dextrous fingers, Lex located the correct one quickly.  "Here we go," he said, pulling out the correct file and flipping it open.  Chloe leaned in close to peer at the file around him.  There was a history of shipping manifests of Luthorcorp sending tainted materials out with a company called Optimus.  Each manifest had three parts -- the outgoing shipment, confirmation of destruction, and the return of the empty barrels.  
  
Except for one shipment which didn't follow the pattern.  
  
"Hmmm," Lex paused, looking over the irregular shipment.  "You seeing what I'm seeing?"  
  
Chloe's brow was creased in concentration as she reviewed the same document.  "Yeah.  This isn't what the online records showed."  She looked up and met his eyes.  "Who is Savage Inc. and why were they the ones to deliver the barrels back to Luthorcorp?"  
  
Then they both heard footsteps moving down the hallway outside the records room and froze.  They stayed still, listening.  The footsteps were joined by off-key whistling.  
  
 _Security Guard_ , Lex mouthed at her silently.  She nodded to show she understood.  Hopefully he would just keep walking by, but then she looked up, realizing the room lights were on.  The guard would see the light showing under the door.  Lex followed her gaze and she saw that he comprehended the problem as well.  While Lex had every right to be here, they didn't want anyone to know they had been looking at the shipment records.  If they were caught here in the middle of the night, even the most oblivious security guard would wonder why.  While Lex could threaten the man into silence, but who could say if that would work?  Or that the guard wasn't part of the setup operation?  
  
The records had given them their first real lead, but no one could know that.  They couldn't risk tipping their hand and letting the bad guys know they were on to them.  Chloe looked around frantically for a place to hide, but the aisles were bare of anything except the shelves of boxes.  The shelves themselves were packed full and even the computer desk was a poor place to hide.  She looked up to see if they could maybe climb the shelves or access the drop ceiling, but that would take too much time.  The guard was in front of the door and they heard a electronic ding as he swiped his own badge to access the room.  
  
Then the world was spinning and Chloe found herself sitting on the cold metal wire of the shelving in the spot the records box had previously occupied.  She only managed to get out a short squeak of surprise before Lex sealed her mouth shut with his own.


	3. Chapter 3

_What the hell?_ was the only thought that came to mind when Lex dropped her into place on the wire shelving.  She barely realized the metal was cold on the backs of her legs, when Lex's mouth slammed down on her own.  
  
She only had a moment of shock before the molten forceful heat of his mouth on hers sent her senses into overdrive.  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she found herself kissing him back with a passion she had forgotten she contained -- even when she had dated Jimmy.  It had been years since...No.  She wouldn't think about that now.  She wouldn't fall into the past when the present was so much more shocking.  
  
A part of her knew this was a distraction for the benefit of the security guard, but most of her was falling, lost and shockingly ready for him.  She could go back to alternately saving the world and locking horns with him again later.  Right now, his mouth slanting against hers was much more important.  The angle should have been awkward with her on the edge of the shelf and more boxes above, but Lex gripped her hair to keep her head still.  She found herself grateful for that.  If she was concussed, she probably wouldn't have been able to respond properly when his tongue pressed against her lips.  She opened them, and he swept inside.  A low moan sprang up between them, and she wasn't sure if it was him or her or both.  She really didn't care.  He moved in closer and she felt his cool hands running up her thighs.  A shiver raced down her spine as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his slim waist, drawing him in even closer.  She heard someone speaking at them, but neither of them paid the words any mind.  Not when he began grinding his hips against hers.  Even through both his clothing and hers, the contact felt amazing.  He was shockingly hard (how had he gotten so hard so fast?) and the height of the wire shelf placed her just at his hip level.  As he pushed his hardened body against her, he was giving her just a taste of the friction she hadn't known she needed until that moment.  
  
"Look, I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here.  I need you to break that off and come with me," an angry male voice cut in from just a few feet away.  
  
Lex broke off the kiss and glared over his shoulder at the guard.  She felt something very like barely controlled rage vibrating from him as he snapped at the guard.  "I have every right to be here.  Don't you know who I am?  Get the fuck out of here.  Now."  
  
The guard gasped in shock.  It seemed between her arms wrapped around him and the angle of their kiss the guard had missed Lex's trademark bare head.  She heard the unfortunate guard gulp.  "Mr -- Mr Luthor.  I--I'm so sorry.  I didn't realize it was you.  Just...yeah...just...take as long as you need."  Then the guard turned around and fled.  
  
When Lex turned his eyes back to her, his expression was complex -- a combination of burning, hooded eyes, surprise, and something like...fear?  
  
She wondered at her own expression for just a moment before reality came screaming back.  She felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop open in horror at what she had done.  She had been climbing all over _Lex Luthor!_ _What the hell was wrong with her???_ Her arms and legs dropped away from Lex like he might burn her.  
  
His expression shuttered instantly.  Holding her wide eyes, he very slowly and very deliberately removed his hands from where they were buried under her skirt.  Then in the same unhurried way, he stepped back away from her.  He offered a hand palm-up to help her hop down from the shelf but she ignored it.  
  
What was it with her and making out in records rooms?  With Clark was one thing, but with _Lex Luthor??_  
  
How could she have let something as... _stupid_ as a kiss with Lex Luthor happen?  Well, alright, there had been a time years ago when she had...No!  This was not then.  But for him to kiss her...alright, fine.  She had to admit it was a clever ploy given their circumstances.  She had even used it herself.  If they had been caught rifling through obscure documents from years ago in the middle of the night, that would definitely put their mission at risk.  But a blustering Lex Luther involved in a sordid encounter with a nameless woman?  That wouldn't raise any eyebrows.  His proclivities were common tabloid fodder.  
  
 _Admit it, Chloe.  You aren't mad he kissed you.  You are mad you liked it.  That you responded.  That you responded A LOT._  
  
But then again...he had too.  
  
She shook her head to clear it.  This was much too confusing.  After everything they had done to each other over the last few years, there shouldn't be anything left between them except anger and suspicion.  
  
Grabbing her purse from where it had dropped from nerveless fingers to the floor, she started to make her way to the door, but Lex grabbed her arm, holding her back.  Fury burst through her, and she snapped, "Get your hands off me!"  
  
 _Ah, good, there's the anger._  
  
Lex released her instantly with a dark look.  "Fine.  You didn't seem to mind a moment ago, but fine."  
  
She gave him a withering glare, before she shifted her purse and moved towards the door again.  
  
"You can't go yet," he said flatly, but this time he kept his hands to himself.  
  
"Why not?" she lashed out in response, though she knew the answer even before she finished speaking.  
  
"Because that guard thinks we are in here _in flagrante._ If you go marching out now, you'll spoil that perfectly good cover I just gave us."  
  
"Fine," she spat out in the same tone he had used.  "What do we do now, then?"  
  
He smirked wickedly in response.  Actually smirked as if **_that_** had a chance of happening again.  
  
She scowled in reply, then marched back and snatched the file of shipping records from the shelf where he had discarded if to make their little "show."  
  
"Well, if we are going to assume these are the unmodified records, then those barrels were sent out to Optimus as contracted, but for some reason they were delivered back to you by a company called Savage Inc.  As to why my father didn't flag the change, I don't know."  
  
"Unless he was involved."  
  
Chloe opened her mouth to snap a reply, but stopped.  Even she had to admit, it was highly irregular.  Instead, she continued outlining the facts.  "The good news is that it only looks like a single tainted shipment was taken.  All the other records looked to be in perfect order.  So if we can track down this one shipment of..."  She flipped the manifest page to check the number.  "Eight barrels, we should be safe."  
  
"Alright then.  We just need to track down this Savage Inc. facility then and check it out."  He paused catching her smirk.  "What?"  Then he smiled too, catching on.  "The address is listed on the manifest?"  
  
"Yep, right at the top.  So, Lex, how do you feel about visiting scenic Nebraska?"  
  
He smiled widely.  It was such an odd and intriguing expression to see on Lex's face, but she felt her own smile appear in response.  "I can hardly wait," he said.

* * *

  
  
Lex wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting from her when he kissed Chloe.  He knew she was smart enough to realize it for the distraction it was, but he certainly hadn't expected her to respond the way she had.  
  
But then he hadn't expected that **_he_** would respond the way he had.  Every rational thinking part of his brain had just... _shut off_ when his lips meet hers.  
  
How could he possibility have expected that?  It had been years since... No.  Best not to go there.  
  
She tasted like cinnamon and coffee, and her lips were so soft, he had needed to explore her mouth further.  And when he felt her arms wrap around him, he couldn't stop himself from moving in closer.  He hadn't thought for even a second past wanting to feel here legs wrap around him too.  Sweetly curved legs he had surreptitiously watched years ago when things had been different between them.  When she had trusted him with her life.  When she had always been in clothes just a bit too short and too tight.  Then there she was kissing him and pressing into him, and it all came rushing in.  Desire that was sharpened, instead of dulled, by years of undeclared war.  Suddenly, his arms were full of her, pressing her body against his...wanting more...  
  
Then it had all come crashing to a sudden halt.  Reality snapped back so quickly it nearly left him with whiplash.  In the middle of working to prevent a possible disaster, in the middle of saving his company and reputation, he had lost himself with Chloe Sullivan.  
  
 _Chloe Sullivan_ of all people!  
  
Self-righteous bitch that she had become, always thinking herself so much better than him.  He knew better.  She was a meteor mutant like the others and sooner or later she would snap.  
  
And it would be up to him to contain her.  
  
So how has he let himself forget all that even for a moment?  Was it because of everything she brought to the surface for him?  He rarely had an interaction with her that didn't have them locking horns.  But for some reason, he had always liked that.  Even when she had been so young, she had seen him for what he was.  But she hadn't let that stop her.  Her mind and her drive had been the things that mattered, not what stood in her way.  He had always admired that about her.  It was actually what had brought her to him all those years ago.  She needed to be free of his father and so had he.  They had needed each other.  
  
But what had happened just now was an entirely different kind of need.  A dangerous need.  
  
He couldn't deal with this.  Not now.  
  
But that didn't stop him from wanting it now that the fire had been kindled.


	4. Chapter 4

Lex flew them in his helicopter to a pad outside the small town of Beatrice, Nebraska.  At first, Chloe had been surprised when Lex himself climbed into the pilot's seat, but it made sense when she thought about it.  After his near-death in a plane crash, he must have learned to handle all the Luthor toys -- including the helicopter.  Using the helo was slower than the jet, but they didn't have to file a flight plan if they flew low.  They agreed it was worth the time if it helped to disguise their destination.  Once they hit Beatrice, they found a car rental, and Chloe had the bizarre pleasure of paying to rent a car for Lex Luthor.  Lex couldn't risk his name popping up anywhere near the Savage Inc. facility and giving off an alert.  However, it was unlikely that the name "Chloe Sullivan" would raise any brows.  Especially not when they were still hours away from their final destination.  For his part, Lex was doing his best to disguise his unique silhouette with clothes that could have been taken from the Clark Kent school of fashion.  
  
Fiddling with the car keys as they went out to the nondescript sedan, Chloe was suddenly struck by the humor of the situation and let out a small snort of laughter.  
  
Lex looked at her sideways, peeking past the raised hood of the jacket that camouflaged his bald head.  "Care to share the humor, Chloe?"  
  
"Oh, I just realized this is my first travel assignment while at The Planet, and it's to Bumble-Fuck, Nebraska, I can't write the real story, it's with _you_ , and I'm picking up all the bills."  
  
He smirked.  "I thought you'd appreciate a return to Bumble-Fuck.  Didn't you once spend a summer there?"  
  
She found herself smiling, almost against her will.  She had forgotten she referred to the tiny town where the safehouse had been as Bumble-Fuck as well.  "Yes, but that was Bumble-Fuck, Kansas.  I think that it is going to look like Metropolis compared to where we are heading."  
  
"Ah yes, you may be right.  I can see how this isn't quite the plum assignment your cousin has been getting."  
  
Her smile disappeared as she automatically went on the defensive.  "Lois is a good reporter.  She --"  
  
The look Lex shot her had her biting off her words.  The light in his eyes showed he had purposely provoked her.  
  
"Be careful, Lex.  I'm the one with the credit card this time around.  Don't make me use it against you."  
  
He snorted.  "Oh, please.  You know well enough you'll be compensated above and beyond any expenses you incur during this sojourn."  
  
She nodded in agreement.  "True, but until then I have every right to purchase nothing but Krispy Kremes and gas station coffee if you push me too far."  
  
This time it was _his_ jaw that clenched shut.  
  
Chloe basked in her victory.  
  
They reached the car, and both reached for the driver's side door.  
  
"Lex, the car is rented under my name."  
  
"I'm aware, but there is no way I'm letting you drive."  
  
"Oh yeah?  I drive myself everywhere.  Don't you have a driver?  I mean when you aren't in one of those penises with wheels you like to call a car?"  
  
He ignored the 'penises with wheels' comment completely, saying instead, "Yes, but I've seen you drive."  
  
" _Me?_ Of the two of us, who has been in more car accidents?"  
  
He paused, thinking.  "Actually I think we might be even on that one."  
  
Still both holding the driver's door handle, they glared hard at each other when a sudden thought struck Chloe.  
  
She gave Lex her sweetest smile.  His look turned instantly suspicious.  Maybe she was still a little affected by that kiss, because she suddenly felt a little reckless.  She moved in close to him, until only a few crucial inches separated them.  She let her voice go soft and low as she dangled the keys before his eyes.  "Fine, Lex, but you owe me."  
  


* * *

  
  
As he drove the 90 miles out to Bumble-Fuck, Nebraska as Chloe called it, Lex found himself sneaking glances at the blonde next to him.  The _sleeping_ , _**drooling**_ , blonde.  
  
Dammit, he should have let her keep the keys, but fuck-it-all he had to insist on driving.  He wasn't even sure why he had done so.  She was right, he did often use a driver.  Maybe it was some sort of misogynistic impulse that wouldn't let a woman drive him around.  Or maybe it was just that he didn't want _this_ woman driving him around.  
  
So instead he got to listen to _her_ ipod music, since the radio stopped getting signals after about 20 miles, and he hadn't thought to load up any playlists.  
  
He wasn't about to admit that Chloe had surprisingly good musical taste though.  It was nothing like his usual classical selections, but her found his fingers tapping more than once.  
  
Not that she could see.  
  
She had fallen asleep within minutes of them getting in the car.  
  
It wasn't like him to miss such a glaring disadvantage in pressing his case to be the driver.  She got to sleep while he got to drive almost two hours through dark and completely forgettable terrain.  
  
Listening to her music too.  
  
And on top of all that?  
  
He 'owed her'.  
  
Fuck-it-all.

* * *

  
  
He pulled into the parking lot of the White Deer Motel just as dawn was breaking.  They would have time for a few hours of sleep, then go out for some live surveillance of the Savage Inc. facility, before they broke in tonight and deployed the counter-measures.  As the car came to a stop, Chloe jerked awake.  He didn't try to hide his smirk at her appearance.  Her hair, always so obedient to her style wishes, was stuck up weirdly on one side.  He felt the smirk falter slightly as he realized her dishabille and sleepy half-lidded eyes made her look...  
  
No.  Not that.  That unexpectedly hot kiss in the records room did not make her look fuck-able.  
  
Chloe Sullivan was merely a means to an end.  
  
No matter what his cock thought.  
  


* * *

  
  
It wasn't long before Chloe had secured them rooms, food from the breakfast spread, and they had unloaded their "wildlife photography equipment" into the two rooms at the end of the small motel.  
  
"So Doris, the desk clerk, was very helpful about the best places to see the ridge," Chloe said before biting into a 'cherry' danish that Lex doubted had anything close to real fruit in its ingredients.  
  
He looked at his own equally uninspiring 'strawberry' pastry, asking, "Oh, yeah?  What did she say?"  
  
She smiled triumphantly, looking annoyingly well rested after her snooze in the car.  "That you can see it perfectly from a scenic outlook off Highway-14 about ten miles down."  
  
He found himself smiling too.  That was excellent news.  He had to admit that her choice of cover for them -- wildlife photographers -- had really been quite inspired.  Because really, who else would be out here otherwise?  The motel itself clearly catered to that crowd.  He didn't know if it was an attempt to get in good with "Doris" or if she thought it some sort of joke, but Chloe had even purchased a pair of t-shirts from the motel for them.  
  
Her forest green shirt had a picture of a camera and bold white type declaring 'PHOTOGRAPHERS DO IT WHILE EXPOSING.'  
  
She had smilingly presented him with a 'White Deer Motel' shirt that had a picture of a smiling cartoon deer on it.  He had raised an eyebrow at it, but hadn't said anything more.  It was bad enough he was wearing flannel and a jacket.  Made him feel like he had raided Clark's closet.  
  
But there wasn't a chance in hell he'd let her see him annoyed by something as changeable as clothes.  
  
Checking the time, Chloe said, "Well, as 'Wildlife Photographers' we need to get going.  Animals are most active early in the morning and evening."  She caught Lex's dark look.  He hadn't gotten any sleep, and she seemed positively cheerful.  Smirking, she snapped up the keys.  "I can drive."

* * *

  
  
It took them about 20 minutes to reach the ridge described by Doris.    The motel clerk had been right.  As they stretched out on the ridge, it gave them a perfect overlook at the Savage Inc. site.  Pulling out a camera she had borrowed from The Daily Planet, Chloe started snapping pictures through the telephoto lens of the site.  She focused on the elements they hadn't been able to discern from reports or satellite imagery, especially the security measures and protocols.  Lex was next to her with a pad of paper and a stopwatch, recording notes as she pointed out details or asked him to time the different protocols used at the site.  They wanted to build the most complete picture of the workings of the site as possible before coming up with a strategy to get in and somehow stop the release of the tainted earth.  
  
It took upwards of two hours as they switched roles and shifted up and down the ridge a few times.  Chloe had clearly done this before, but he pointed out a few security details she missed, including the use of keycards to access the buildings.  Finally, it looked like they had done all the surveillance they could reasonably do from their perch.  Slowly lowering the binoculars he had been using for a last perusal of the site, Lex caught her attention, and motioned with his head that they should retreat back to the car.  
  
Now was the time to plan.  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe expelled a heavy breath as she brought up her newly-sorted information on the Savage Inc. site on her laptop screen.  She had spent the last few hours sorting and compiling all their information while Lex got some much-delayed sleep.  Now they were both up, dressed, and ready to get into the nitty-gritty of the planning.  "So based on what we saw on the ridge, the plant security is pretty much what we had expected.  They obviously aren't expecting any interference, but they aren't leaving any huge loopholes either."  
  
Lex settled himself in one of the motel room chairs.  He looked much refreshed after some sleep and a hot shower.  The goofy cartoon deer t-shirt she had purchased for him as a joke somehow looked...appealing on him.  Maybe because it was so unlike the Lex she knew.  Maybe it was because the thin white tee fit his trim body snugly showing off surprisingly firm and lean muscle.  
  
But the smirk in his voice was the same, and it snapped her attention back.  "Well, Chloe, pretend for just a moment this is a Luthorcorp facility.  How would you break in then?"  
  
Chloe reminded herself he was still an asshole no matter what he wore.  
  
She made a rude face at him before turning back to the pictures on her laptop.  "Well, the guards seem to circle on a loop.  Major mistake.  I used the timing we did to set when they won't be there, but the cameras could still be a problem.  As will be the facility doors.  Those will need a slightly more invasive methods for us to get around them."  
  
"Like what?" Lex asked.  
  
"Well, I think I have a closeup pics of one of the cameras in here somewhere..."  Chloe clicked lightning-fast through the pictures, looking for one that focused on the cameras.  "Ah, here we go..."  She leaned in so close to the screen her nose almost touched as she looked over the image of the security camera.  "I think it is a XLR deluxe camera."  She sat back and smiled in triumph at Lex.  "That is good news."  
  
"Why?  Can you set up some sort of fake footage loop and patch it into the system?"  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes.  "Why does everyone suggest that?  Is it because it is a movie thing?"  
  
Lex couldn't help but wonder who the "everyone" Chloe was referring to could be.  Though he had a flannel-clad guess...  
  
"Alright, then, Chloe.  I'll bite.  Why does that help us then?" he asked instead.  
  
"Because..." she replied, drawing the word out as her fingers clacked away on the keyboard.  "The XLR uses a remote connection between cameras.  I can tap into it using the remote administration tool I got when I..."  She abruptly stopped speaking and her eyes shot over to Lex, before going back to her laptop.  "Nevermind."  
  
"It would appear that this exercise has produced a number of other side benefits," he drawled.  
  
Chloe shot him a sharp look, and her fingers immediately pulled away from the computer as she turned to face him, her cheeks flushing red.  "Lex, if you think for one moment that what happened in the records room -- "  
  
He cut her off quickly.  "Not what I had in mind, but it you wish to see it as a side benefit, Chloe, I'm not going to argue it with you."  
  
His smirk was so wicked Chloe had to physically restrain herself from clawing it off his face.  Instead she felt her nails digging into the flesh of her palms.  
  
"No, what I meant was that you are uncovering all sorts of vulnerabilities in the Luthorcorp security systems."  His eyes almost twinkled with evil glee.  "Maybe I should hire you as a consultant to shore up our systems."  
  
She let her own expression melt into one of wicked delight.  "Absolutely, Lex.  I'd love to look over the Luthorcorp security systems."  
  
Chloe didn't know what sort of reaction she had expected from Lex to her comment, but it wasn't...laughter.  
  
Genuine, full-bodied laughter.  
  
She also hadn't expected that she would enjoy hearing it.  She couldn't remember the last time she had heard him laugh.  But that shouldn't be surprising, she hadn't really spent much time with him that didn't involve battle on one or more fronts since the safehouse.  He used to laugh then, even as sick as he was from Lionel's poison.  The laugh she heard now was so much like then, without the bitter edge that seemed to always haunt his words now.  
  
She didn't realize she was smiling until Lex's laughter tapered off and he smiled back at her.  
  
She cleared her throat and turned back to the computer.  "Anyway, I can get us around the cameras by setting off a system reboot.  Most people are used to technology hiccups, so won't think it resetting will seem suspicious."  She released a sigh as she stared at the screen.  "So that just leaves the doors.  As you pointed out, they use keycards.  So we need to get our hands on one of them."  She tapped a finger against her jaw thinking.  "We have to think of a way to steal one without anyone being suspicious.  I suppose we could knock out a guard, but they travel in pairs with dogs, so that would be difficult."  
  
"This is the only motel near the facility, right?"  
  
"Yeah.  Why?"  
  
"I might have an idea."  Then without another word, he slipped out the room's door.  
  
He came back about ten minutes later, brandishing an ID badge.  
  
"What?"  Chloe jumped up from her seat and snatched the badge.  Looking back at him, she stuttered..."What?  How?"  
  
Lex smiled, and for once it wasn't a smirk.  "The lovely Doris again.  I figured if this was the only motel around, that at least some of the employees would come out here.  Especially for a...personal break with a lady friend."  Now he smirked.  "So I just asked if anyone had left an ID badge by accident."  His expression changed and he became someone open and innocent.  His voice lost its cultured tones, sounding a bit young and maybe sickly.  "You see, the friend that told us to come out here to photograph lost his badge and he'll be in so much trouble if they have to replace it.  Did any show up in the lost and found?"  
  
A brilliant smile overtook Chloe's face.  Lex found himself momentarily speechless as she directed that 1-million-megawatt smile at him.  "So this it it, then.  We're in."  Her smile faded.  "But what do we do once we're in?  We still need a way to stop the distribution of the tainted soil.  There is too much to take away, now that they mixed it across eight truckloads.  How do we secure it?"  
  
"I believe I have something that could help us there too, now that we know what we are facing."  Lex went over to his baggage, and pulled out a black hard-side case.  "A very exciting innovation from one of my labs."  He paused and shot her a teasing look.  "One you haven't found."  Chloe moved to stand beside him as he lifted the case onto the bed and popped the locks on it.  Inside were eight silver contraptions of some kind.  They were about the size of her palm and had vials of some sort of liquid in them.  
  
"What are those?"  
  
"Lead diffusion bombs."  
  
"BOMBS?!"  She backed away with her palms up.  "No, Lex.  I didn't come here to commit arson."  
  
"Relax, Chloe.  They don't work like that.  They release a fine mist of lead.  I'm sure you already know that lead can shield against meteor rock."  He gestured at the devices.  "These use the same principle.  They coat the meteor rock, rendering it inert."  
  
"But lead is still poison!"  
  
He smiled.  "Yes, but it is a _known_ poison.  The government regulators will catch it on the first quality inspection.  That soil will never make it to market."  His smile turned nasty.  "And the Luthorcorp fertilizer plants have _never_ had any lead contamination.  In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find anything lead in our facilities.  Unlike Savage Inc., which has had multiple lead citations.  So even if they do try to push it back to my company, that will be an instant red flag to anyone looking into it.  Those barrels they worked so hard to secure will damn them instead of exonerating them."  
  
Chloe thought it through, but didn't see any gaping holes in the plan so far.  "Alright then, how do they work?"  
  
Lex picked up one of the devices.  "We just need to plant one of these in each truckload of contaminated soil.  When we are clear, I use a radio trigger to set them off.  They will begin emitting a lead gas that will be attracted to the meteor rock particles.  The gas will seek out and encapsulate the meteor rock pieces throughout each truckload, right down to the smallest shard."  
  
Chloe frowned.  "But what about the explosion?  And the people working there?  We don't want to injure or give anyone lead poisoning any more than we want to cause meteor-rock poisoning."  
  
Lex shook his head.  "They don't explode.  They release.  More like a smoke bomb than a true explosion.  And as for the gas, it has been highly engineered to be attracted to the meteor rock.  You would have to try really, really hard to inhale enough to hurt you.  But just in case, I do have masks."  He indicated the two small breathing masks inside the case.  "The masks come as part of the kit because the devices can be triggered both by the remote and manually with this switch on the side."  He turned the device over, indicating a small red switch.  "I had hoped we could test them further before putting them into use, but it is what it is."  
  
Chloe couldn't help but smile a little.  This may actually work.  "So it looks like our next step is just to wait for dark."  
  
Lex reclined back on the bed, smiling as well.  "Or rather, dusk.  We'll want to get some photos of those Western Meadowlarks Doris was talking about."  
  
Chloe smiled in response.  Apparently Lex had gotten the same talk that she had from the friendly motel clerk.  "Well, it is the state bird of Nebraska.  What kind of wildlife photographers would we be if we missed it?"  
  
Lex's lips twitched up slightly as if he were fighting another smile.  "I don't know, but I'm sure I'd never hire them."


	5. Chapter 5

Amazing Banner by: [](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/profile)[**malugargula**](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/)

 

Dusk came and they headed out with their photography equipment, the case with the Lead Dispersal Bombs, and a bag of tools.  
  
Lex drove, and as he saw Chloe snapping photos out the windows of the car, he had to suppress a smile.  He wondered if she did manage to get any pictures of Western Meadowlarks.  
  
They timed it well.  Lex pulled the car over into some brush around the back side of the fence surrounding the Savage Inc. facility just as full dark was setting in.  Lex got out of the car, then moved around to the trunk.  He started pulling out the equipment they would need.  Chloe stayed in the car with her laptop, and started the remote administration tool that she would use to restart the camera network.  Once she had everything ready, Chloe climbed out of the car.  
  
"Alright, Lex.  All I need to do now is hit execute and the cameras will restart.  That will give us roughly four minutes to get through the fence, across the yard and through the door before the cameras start turning on.  There are also cameras inside, but I bought us a bit more time by triggering the outside ones to reload up first.  Then the insides will start coming up one by one.  I can't say which will come on first or how long we'll have since we couldn't do any inside recon.  We'll just have to work with what we get.  So we need to plant those devices and get out ASAP."  
  
"Understood."  He handed her a knapsack and one of the sets of binoculars.  "Inside are the wire cutters, the wire twists, one of the breathing masks, and four of the devices."  He hoisted the other knapsack to his own back.  "I've got the badge, the trigger, a mask, and the other four devices.  All we need to do now is wait for the patrol to pass and we can start."  
  
A moment later they watched the patrol go by through their binoculars.  
  
Meeting Chloe's eyes, Lex said, "Ok, let's go."  
  
Chloe nodded and hit execute.  
  


* * *

  
  
They dashed for the fence.  Chloe already had the wire cutters out.  When she reached one of the poles, she started snipping.  
  
Watching her, Lex asked, "Why are you going along the pole?  It would be easier to cut an entry point in the middle."  
  
Without pausing in her snipping, Chloe replied, "It is easier to hide the cuts along the pole.  That is why I had you bring the wire twists.  I'll twist it loosely closed behind us.  In the dark under careless inspection, they shouldn't see the cuts until too late."  
  
Just then Chloe made her last snip and tucked the cutters into the side of the knapsack on her back.  "Ok, go!"  
  
Lex dashed through and over to the darkened doorway with the keycard panel.  Chloe joined him a moment later after twisting the hole in the fence loosely closed.  She had been right.  He couldn't tell it had been cut, but the flimsy ties would be easy to tear apart again for a quick exit.  
  
Chloe rose a bit higher still in his estimation.  No wonder she managed to get into so many places she had no business being.  She seemed hard-wired to be a cat burglar.  
  
Lex swiped the key card Doris had been so kind to give them.  He found himself holding his breath.  If the badge had been deactivated...  
  
But the panel turned green and he heard the lock click open.  
  
He reminded himself to change the badge policy for Luthorcorp.  Replacement badges would be free, but unreported lost badges would soon incur a stiff penalty.  He wasn't about to let these same break-in techniques work for _his_ company anymore.  
  
As they slid through the entry, Lex held the heavy door so it closed behind them noiselessly.  Scanning the room, he saw they had lucked out.  There were several guards, but they all appeared to be engaged around a suite of monitors.  Most likely trying to figure out what was wrong with the camera system.  The pictures sent by their nameless benefactor were now proving invaluable as they oriented themselves in the room.  All eight Luthorcorp barrels now stood empty, as did the giant earth mixer.  As they had feared, all the tainted material had already been mixed with clean soil and loaded onto eight full dumptrucks.  Judging by the heat still coming off the mixing equipment, they had just finished today.  The soil was likely heading off to packaging in the morning.  
  
They had cut it _very_ close.  If the material had already been packaged for retail, the dispersal bombs wouldn't have worked.  
  
Using silent gestures, he indicated four of the trucks to Chloe.  She nodded, and keeping to the shadows, made her way to the closest truck.  Watching the four guards around the monitors, Lex observed they were blatantly over-armed for working inside a soil plant.  Each guard wore a handgun strapped to their legs and an assault-style weapon -- maybe an M-16 -- either leaned against the wall or slung over their shoulders.  
  
Why did they need so much weaponry at a soil plant?  Even one that was dealing in corporate espionage?  
  
Lex feared this plant, this plot to take out his company, and infect thousands...may only be part of something bigger.  Something bigger and...nastier.  
  
Fuck.  
  
Shaking his head, he brought himself back to the present.  He had to sneak around and toss the dispersal bombs into the truck.  If they did this right, it wouldn't matter how much firepower the guards had.  He and Chloe would be gone before they could get off a shot.  
  
He made his way to the first truck and tossed the bomb in, then moved down the line.  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe kept waiting for one of the guards to turn.  Or someone else to walk in and spot her.  Or for one of her throws into the truck to miss.  
  
Nothing happened.  It all went perfectly.  
  
Catching sight of Lex slinking back to their starting position near the door, she did the same.  When she reached him, he placed his knapsack on the floor and pulled out the remote detonator and his mask.  She dug her own mask out of her knapsack and donned it as well.  Lex held up the remote in one hand and the fingers of his other hand up and open.  As he started to drop one of his fingers, Chloe understood he was doing a countdown.  Four.  He curled down a second finger.  Three.  Another finger.  Two.  Timing the motion with his last finger, he popped open the cap that covered the detonator button.  One.  
  
He hit the detonator.  
  
Greyish smoke started pouring out from the bed of the trucks, coating the heaped earth within.  
  
On seven of the trucks.  
  
One of them hadn't gone off.  
  
Crap.  
  


* * *

  
  
Lex watched as the lead gas quickly started to coalesce around the green rocks within the beds of the trucks.  All except for the one truck at the end of his line.  
  
The guards shouted at the sound of the gas, picked up their weapons, and moved towards the smoking trucks.  This was his and Chloe's cue to dart out the door, while the guards were distracted looking into the truck beds.  
  
Except one truck was still full of actively poisoned material...  
  
Lex moved towards the truck, but Chloe must have had the same idea.  She was smaller and faster and shot past him.  He paused again, not wanting to attract attention with his motion, but quietly seething.  The truck was on his line.  He should have been the one to go set off the manual detonation.  Stupid interfering snoop.  He'd wring her neck when they got out of here.  
  
He watched her climb into the truck, thankful that the guards seemed more interested in the trucks that were issuing gas as opposed to the one that sat quietly.  A moment later, gas started to pour from the last truck as well and he saw Chloe slip out and make her way back along the wall towards the door.  
  
Unfortunately, so did one of the guards.  
  
"Wait!  Stop!" he cried out, pulling out his handgun.  
  
"Chloe!  Hurry!"  He heard the words rip from his throat, but he could see it would be too late.  The gun was up and she was still yards from the door.  
  
He didn't think, because if he had, he would have remembered that he was supposed to hate Chloe Sullivan.  He would have remembered she was a meteor freak and an inherent danger.  He would have remembered how much bullet wounds _**HURT.**_  
  
But instead, he pushed her aside, interposing himself between Chloe and the guard just as a _POP, POP, POP_ sound filled the air.  
  
He shouted in pain as the bullets tore into his chest and shoulder.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The bullets tore into Lex's chest and shoulder.  Three if he felt correctly through the waves of pain.  
  
God, he hated being shot.  
  
And now the guard was dropping his pistol and bringing his previously ignored rifle to bear.  So Lex hit the second button on the dispersal bomb trigger.  
  
Great fountains of dirt geysered from seven truck beds as the explosives he insisted be included in the design of the lead dispersal bombs went off.  Every single guard looked up at the fountains of soil rushing into the air -- including the guard that had been bringing up his rifle toward them.  The air was suddenly thick and obscured by drifting particles of dirt.  
  
Chloe looked at him in shock, "I thought you said they weren't bombs."  
  
He forced a smile through the pain.  "I lied."  
  
Chloe mumbled something uncomplimentary about Luthors that he didn't pay any heed to, as he pulled her arm with his uninjured one.  "We need to move now, while they are distracted.  That blast wasn't meant to be anything more than a diversion."  
  
Without further comment, they rushed out through the door and into the yard.  
  


* * *

  
  
Outside, there was just as much chaos as there had been inside.  Chloe and Lex removed their masks and waited until most of the personnel of the facility had rushed for the far side of the building.  Then they made a quick dash across the yard and to the place in the fence they had made their opening.  The wire ties holding the gaping hole shut tore easily and they quickly ducked through.  
  
A moment later, they were in the car, speeding away with Chloe at the wheel.  
  


* * *

  
  
She should have known how badly injured he was when Lex didn't argue when she jumped into the driver's seat.  She had been too elated by the success of their mission.  She thought his cursing and cries of pain were more for her benefit, a way of reminding her that he had taken the wounds for her.  
  
After all, he was Lex Luthor.  He had been poisoned, set on fire, drove off a bridge, nearly drown, been driven insane and electoshocked, and a thousand other things.  Nothing as small as three tiny bits of metal should have been able to do him any real harm.  
  
But when he went silent and she looked across at him, a sudden terror seized her heart.  
  
The entire front of him had gone wet and red, though his skin was pale and waxy.  
  
"Lex!" she screamed at him, fighting between watching where she was driving and his slack face.  She hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going, but she brought the car to  sudden stop at the end of the parking lot of The White Deer Motel.  
  
Part of her said she should run for the office and ask Doris to direct her to the nearest hospital.  Or she should dial 911 on her cell phone.  
  
But she hadn't named this town Bumble-Fuck for no reason.  They were miles from anything that could help Lex, and instinct told her it would be too late.  
  
"Lex!" she screamed into his face, reaching across the seat to feel for a pulse in his neck.  It was there, but getting weaker.  He was losing a lot of blood.  One of the bullets must have pierced something and it had taken time to show.  That or in their flight to escape, Lex had ruptured something.  She tried pulling at his jacket and shirt to see the wound, but between the blood and his dead weight, she couldn't properly move enough to see.  
  
Looking at his slack face, she searched for some sign, something to tell her what to do.  
  
He had taken the bullets that had been meant for her.  She had seen the guard raising the handgun, but hadn't had time to get out of the way, when Lex had suddenly pushed her clear.  The bullets hit him with a sound that was too loud to be real.  She had been around gunshots before, but she had never gotten used to it.  There was just something that felt wrong to her about something so small causing so much damage.  So to see the three bullets hit Lex it had felt unreal, especially when he retaliated by exploding the devices.  
  
But now he was dying just the same.  He was dying when it should have been her.  
  
Lex was not a good man.  He was not kind or gentle or any of the things that she would have expected in someone that would take a bullet for her, but he had done it just the same.  He had seen something coming to kill and acted to stop it.  
  
Now that did actually feel like Lex.  In his own twisted way, he sought to protect.  He really thought he was saving the world with his experiments and secret projects.  
  
Well, saving others was part of her too.  And maybe by saving him, she could show him there was a better way.  That you didn't have to control and contain everything to make the world a better place.  That if you gave people a chance, they could surprise you by doing the right thing.  
  
That they could heal as well as harm.  
  
Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand on his bloody chest and willed him to life.  
  


* * *

  
  
A warm glow surrounded them, bathing both Lex and Chloe in a soft golden light.  A moment later three dull _thuds_ sounded as the bullets were forced out by Lex's healing flesh.  His pulse and breathing evened out as Chloe's own stuttered and fell.  
  
A moment later the light died out, leaving two silent forms covered in blood unnoticed in the car at the end of the lot outside The White Deer Motel.  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Amazing Banner by: [](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/profile)[**malugargula**](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/)

Lex woke up slowly, feeling muzzy-headed and confused.  He blinked a few times, pushing information through to his brain, though he felt surprisingly good.  He was sitting in a car, parked in what looked like a motel parking lot.  The motel was familiar and it took him a moment to think about why.  Then as his mind began to clear his eyes snapped to seat next to him.  In the driver's seat was Chloe.  
  
She looked dead.  
  
"Oh God, Chloe!"  He reached for her, seeking a pulse at her neck.  Her skin felt cool and clammy, and he couldn't tell if there was a beat.  Frantically, he held his hand under her nose, to see if he could feel any breath.  Again, he couldn't be sure.  His eyes searched the parking lot of the hotel for something that might help.  If she wasn't breathing and had no pulse, by the time he found and got her to a hospital, it might be too late.  
  
It might already be too late.  
  
No!  He couldn't think like that.  He had taken the bullets, so why was she...  
  
He seized the keys from the car ignition, where Chloe had thoughtfully attached the motel room key.  He clambered out of the car, realizing as he did so that his clothes were stiff with blood.  He ignored the sensation because it didn't hinder his movements.  In fact, he felt strangely strong.  He rushed up to the room and unlocked the door, glad they had somehow ended up back in front of the rooms they had booked.  He flung the door wide, then raced back to the car.  Carefully, he lifted Chloe out of the car.  He was surprised how light she was.  Someone with such a smart mouth and so full of self-righteousness should feel more solid, heavier.  But quiet in his arms, her tiny form felt feather-light.  
  
Did she feel warmer or was that just wishful thinking?  
  
He carried her into the room and laid her down on the bed.  Leaning over her still form, he searched for a pulse again and almost thought he felt something.  
  
 _There!_ He had!  That was a definite beat!  
  
To his amazement, he watched as she took a deep breath and color rushed into her cheeks.  Lashes fluttered and he suddenly found himself looking into the clearest and most beautiful green eyes from just inches away.  
  
He didn't remember making the conscious decision, but suddenly he was kissing her.  There wasn't any surprise or hesitation from her this time.  She was just kissing him back.  Her skin warming fast as he moved his lips over hers, willing more life and breath and heat into her.  He had enough of all three for both of them.  The hand that had felt the first hesitant beat of life in her throat stayed still as he felt the pulse under it accelerate.  
  
It was strange, but even after all the near-deaths she'd had over the years, he had never really thought of Chloe Sullivan as someone that could actually _die_.  Not even when he took those bullets for her.  His own actions were just more proof.  There was always some last minute rescue, some mysterious circumstance, to save her.  
  
Then he had seen her cold and waxy in the car.  He wasn't sure why it had affected him so.  Her death shouldn't mean anything to him.  No, scratch that, he should be _joyous_ at her death.  She was an obstacle, a fly in the ointment of his schemes, she was the saboteur in the shadows, and a meteor freak.  
  
He should be glad to have survived when she hadn't, because that would mean he had ultimately won and she had lost.  
  
But seeing her so still and small, suddenly he hadn't been able to imagine his life without her moving to counter him.  
  
The kiss grew more and more heated and he was climbing up onto the bed and stretching out next to her.  He pulled her body close to his, willing more warmth into the body that had seemed dead and lifeless moments before.  The heat built quickly, and he suddenly felt feverish.  He stripped the bloody jacket from his shoulders and tossed it away.  Hers followed a moment later.  Small hands fumbled at the bottom his equally bloody tee shirt.  He suddenly found a new appreciation for the silly "PHOTOGRAPHERS DO IT WHILE EXPOSING" T-shirt she wore when he stripped it from her with a single motion.  He knew he was making it more difficult for her to undo his own clothes, but when the tops of full and creamy breasts nestled in a shockingly red and lacy bra became visible, he had to explore them.  He remembered a lifetime ago -- no FOUR lifetimes ago -- when she would be dressed in clothes too tight and low when he saw her.  He hadn't consciously realized how much he had resented her change to cutesy and modest clothes until now.  But then again, why would he think about that?  That was another world.  A world before he had fired her father and experimented on her mother.  A world before he had sought Lana as a replacement for the people he had lost.  A world when he had thought that the right thing and what needed to be done could be the same thing.  
  
How strange that he felt that world could be his again.  
  
He buried his face in the swelling flesh of her chest as he felt her finally stripping his shirt from his body.  It stuck unpleasantly around his shoulder where the blood had dried into a stiff and sticky mess, but she tore it away.  He nipped her in gentle retaliation for the sting of the shirt pulling his skin.  She gasped in mixed pain/pleasure, and dug short nails into his back.  This felt like them, felt like something they would do -- trading pain for pain...but he wanted to explore trading pleasure for pleasure.  He trailed his lips up her neck and teased at the spot under her ear that made her gasp as his hand massaged the firm flesh of her breast.  Her nails were now running up and down his bare back in a way that was no pain and all pleasure.  He moved on top of her to give her more access to his back.  This also aligned their bodies in a way that was most intriguing and he rotated his hips against hers, letting her feel the thrusting hardness of his erection through their clothes.  Working his way back down her body, he found the swell of her breasts once more.  The small clasp between the mounds was all that held them in check, as her chest rose with her excited breathing.  With a twist of his wrist, he released them.  
  
God, she had beautiful breasts.  Tight, peaked nipples rising from pink aureolas that seemed to beg for a man's mouth.  
  
His mouth.  
  
He took one tight bud between his lips and sucked and pulled at the sensitive flesh.  She gasped and grasped onto his head, her fingers spasming as ripples of pleasure shot through her.  
  
God, she was responsive.  
  
A wave of greed flashed through him.  That reaction was for _him_.  This was _his_.  
  
And he had to have more.  
  
His hands moved to her jeans and he undid the button and fly without fumbling.  Most of the women he had been with were the skirts and dresses type, but there was little he didn't know about getting clothes off of a woman.  He pushed the denim down until she lifted her hips and he could free her of the confining fabric.  He smiled at the revelation before him.  A red lace-trimmed panty covered her center.  He brushed a hand down the fabric and was pleased to find the fabric slightly dark and wet when he explored between her legs.  He buried his nose in the fabric to take in the scent of her arousal as he teased at her through the thin barrier of lace and cotton.  He blew gently over the damp fabric and she let out a wordless cry and raised her hips in response.  He gazed up along the length of her body.  Her skin was warm and flushed now, all signs of the frightening stillness and cold gone.  All she was now was heat.  
  
He wanted that heat.  
  
He pushed the small barrier of damp fabric away and watched her face as he slid a single long finger into her.  
  
"Christ!"  she cried, as her body tightened around him.  
  
She was so reactive.  He wondered if anyone but him had ever touched her right.  He doubted it.  Who else but him could?  
  
There was a reason they had always moved to counter the other.  They were the same.  She was his untarnished foil.  Perfectly matched sides of the same coin.  
  
She was his.  
  
Before her hips could settle back, he wrapped his lips around her sweet clit and sucked.  Her thighs clamped around his head, blocking out some of his hearing, but he still heard wordless cries as she pressed herself into him.  He teased her clit with lips and tongue and suction as his finger plunged into her hot wet channel.  Her felt her body thrumming with tension as she wound tighter and tighter.  Her voice was nothing but high-pitched squeaking as he held her hovering over the edge.  When he didn't think she could take any more he wrapped his lips around her clit again and hummed at the same time his finger scraped the secret spot inside the front wall of her channel.  
  
She came apart.  
  
She let out a scream that could probably be heard back in Smallville, and her entire body shook.  Hot wetness coated his tongue and he eagerly lapped at it, loving the taste on his tongue.  His.  This was his.  This was his due.  He had saved the fucking day, and this was his reward.  
  
But not his only reward.  
  
She was still shuddering as he stripped the red cotton and lace panty from her.  His own jeans were quickly opened and stripped along with the designer boxer briefs he wore under them.  
  
"Chloe," he gritted out, catching her attention from the daze of pleasure where she still drifted.  He wanted to see her expressive eyes as he claimed her.  No other woman had ever driven him quite like she had -- from the heights of rage at her interference to this insane, driving need.  Years of trial and maneuvering against each other were finally culminating in _this._  
  
He teased her hot entrance with the head of his hard cock.  Her body was so hot and slick on him, it was a struggle not to plunge right in.  He couldn't remember the last time he had wanted a woman this badly, but he _needed_ her to look at him.  He needed Chloe Sullivan to know that it was Lex Luthor fucking her.  Lex Luthor's heat in hers.  Lex Luthor claiming what could have been his all along if only things had gone another way.  
  
His head pounded with lust as her brilliant green gaze locked with his.  Lightning seared his body as he watched the fires burn in the green depths of her eyes.  She wanted him as much as he wanted her.  "Lex..." she said thickly, but he didn't wait to see what she would say.  He knew it wasn't "No," so anything else she would say could wait for later.  
  
He plunged into her in a single hard push.  
  
She cried out, arching her back to encourage him deeper as her body tightened and clung to him.  
  
He had intended to go slow, to build her up again gradually, before letting her crash down, but he couldn't hold back.  Not when everything in her was rushing him fast towards climax.  Her body was tight and pulsing around his as her slick depths welcomed his hard invasion.  He couldn't have held back from her anymore than he could have held back the tide.  His body moved, pushing hard and fast into her as her felt her growing tighter and tighter around him.  Her legs locked and pulled at him, drawing him even deeper as he felt pressure build between his eyes and tightening his balls.  He wasn't sure he could make it when he felt her clamp down around him with another piercing wail of pleasure as her body milked his.  He felt curses fall from his lips as he mindlessly rutted with her, as his own orgasm wiped his mind blank and he emptied into her.

* * *

  
  
Chloe woke slowly, not really wanting to leave the delicious dreams behind.  Impossible dreams that should have been disturbing, but instead had her body flushing with warmth.  As awareness slowly returned, despite her fight against it, strange sensations filtered into her mind.  She was warm...and wrapped in male arms and pulled firmly into a hard, lean body.  Her eyes flew open, but otherwise, she kept herself still.  Slowly she turned her head until she could look over her shoulder at the man that held her so tight, even in sleep.  
  
She was confronted by the sleeping form of Lex Luthor.  
  
It hadn't been a dream.  She'd had sex with Lex Luthor...and actually _slept_ with him too.  That almost felt stranger than the sex.  You didn't fall asleep in the arms of an enemy.  
  
In sleep, his hard, unforgiving expression was something softer.  Something more like the man that had first come to Smallville seven years before.  As her eyes roamed over his face, she thought of who he had been then.  The man that smiled at her when the fireworks he had arranged for Clark's party went off.  The man that teased her about verbal judo when she interviewed him.  The man that sent her a lucky horse-shoe shaped flower arrangement after she had survived falling from the third floor of his mansion.  
  
She was so lost in looking at that man she had thought gone, that it took her a moment to realize he was looking back at her with clear blue eyes.  For once, she didn't see anything shading his expression.  There was no arrogance, no smirking judgement, no hardness.  He was simply looking at her look at him.  
  
Turning in his arms to face him full on, she continued to meet his clear eyes.  Neither one of them said a word for long moments as they each evaluated the other.  
  
Chloe wasn't sure what he saw in her gaze, but she knew what she saw in his.  A moment lost in time, something strange and rare and precious that should be seized just so you can prove it really existed.  
  


* * *

  
  
She was looking into his eyes, and Lex couldn't help being mesmerized by hers.  There was a depth there than made him feel like he could fall through them.  It made him feel he could see through the woman she was now to the girl he had seen before.  He could see the girl that had given him a surprisingly genuine smile when they first met.  He could see the driven champion that became his ally against his father.  He could see the isolated, but still determined girl in the safehouse.  He remembered how they would play scrabble and she would yell at him for trying to play Latin or French words.  
  
He could see the darker parts too.  Darker parts that he had in many ways caused.  He could see the girl with the straight spine that had walked away after he had hurt her, when he had only thought to protect her.  He saw her fighting him as her dragged her into the caves.  He saw her fear and pain as his teams tested her for her meteor ability.  
  
Still holding his eyes, he heard her soft whisper.  "This isn't real."  
  
And suddenly all he wanted to do was dive through that pain to what he had seen first.  Before he had tried to tear her apart, but had only made her stronger.  
  
He moved slowly closer, his eyes dropping to her lips, as he replied just as softly.  "Alright."  
  


* * *

  
  
Lex's lips didn't seize hers, so much as they merged with hers.  The pressure soft at first, but as more of him met more of her, the pressure grew.  His body moved to press against hers, as if they were trying to merge as much skin as possible.  When the sheets tangled between them, Lex pulled them away, but in an unhurried manner that dragged the fabric across their bodies.  When the sheets were gone, Chloe thought she would be cold, but she wasn't.  Lex's body was hot and hard and pressing against hers.  He wasn't hugely built like Clark, but lithe and lean with the long muscles of a swimmer.  His tight body was a smooth expanse of skin from the top of his trademark scalp to his feet.  She felt the hardness of his cock against her belly where they pressed together.  She wanted to touch it, to see if the skin felt as smooth and silky as it had seemed moving in her last night.  Her hand moved between them and she wrapped her small hand around the velvet-covered-steel of him.  He gasped at her touch, and she saw his eyes open, but he didn't pull away from her lips.  As her fingers explored the shape of him, her teeth nibbled at his lower lip.  His hands were moving in paths of fire over her side and back, encouraging her in her own touching.  She traced the sensitive place on him where the shaft met the head and rubbed against the little notch she found there.  As she moved her hand to encompass the head, she felt the liquid drop at the tip and used it to massage over the blunt end.  She heard Lex's breath hitch and darted her tongue between his lips.  She was surprised he was acting so docile, letting her lead.  It was so very un-Lex-like.  But then, they had agreed this wasn't real.  This had nothing to do with who they were or what they might do when this moment ended.  
  
That was why neither of them spoke.  
  
If they spoke, they would know.  They would remember who they were, and all the damage they had done to each other.  Then the moment would be gone.  
  
But that couldn't happen until they let it.  
  


* * *

  
  
Her hand was wrapped around his cock, teasing and testing him.  He didn't even try to hold back his groans of pleasure as he felt her small, warm hands move on him.  
  
Without thought, his own hands began to move across her body, tracing the curves and dips of her perfect satiny skin.  
  
Lex had lived his whole life surrounded by luxury, to the point that he rarely noticed the individual trappings of wealth around him.  Except for a very few things, he rarely took note of the excessive luxuries in his life.  One of those trappings that he really, truly enjoyed were custom-fit handmade gloves by a tiny shop in Paris.  The tiny glove maker's shop had been making its outrageously expensive wares since the reign of Louis XIV.  They used only the most delicate and buttery smooth leathers and the softest, plushest furs in their hand-stitched gloves.  He had had to fly out to the shop in person so they could make a custom molding of his hands, but it was worth it.  His fingers were extremely sensitive and nothing else had ever felt as smooth and supple to his hands as those gloves.  
  
That was until he felt Chloe Sullivan's warm skin.  
  
Suddenly those expensive leather-and-fur gloves felt as raw and coarse and clumsy as mittens made out of sandpaper.  
  
His lips glided across one of her smooth cheeks to tease the spot below her ear that had made her groan last night.  He liked that spot.  He could bury his nose in the clean scent of her hair and warmed skin while feeling her shiver.  His hands roamed the smooth warm expanse of her body as his hips began to pulse with the movements of hers on his cock.  When he felt himself building to an orgasm, his opened his eyes again, and stilled her hand on him.  He didn't want to come like that.  He wanted to be inside.  
  
His eyes caught her widely dilated green ones and she must have read his thoughts there, for she pushed him over onto his back.  He didn't resist.  Normally he liked being on top, liked the control it gave him, but he was seized by a sudden desire to look up at Chloe as she moved on him.  
  
Silken thighs moved to either side of his hips and she slowly sank herself down onto his hard upthrust cock.  
  
When he slid into her, it felt like every warm feeling in the world.  It felt like sitting warm by the fire while watching a storm rage outside.  It was the first clear breath after an extended head cold.  It was the barely remembered embrace of someone that truly loved him after a long separation.  
  
It felt like coming home.  
  
A loud groan of satisfaction and completion tore from his throat, as he felt a similar one echo from her chest.  
  
Lex closed his eyes again and sank into the feeling as she began to move on him.  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe closed her eyes at the incredible sensation of Lex filling her.  She had thought most of what happened last night was imagination, that there was no way that anything could feel that good.  Especially not Lex.  
  
Lex was corrupt and evil and twisted.  So how could he possibly feel this good?  It was like her body was built to accept his.  
  
He was big, but her body stretched to accommodate him, and as it did, she found she was able to take him even deeper.  She pressed her hips down until he was sunk into her to the hilt.  She opened her eyes and caught his.  His blue irises had gone brilliant and stormy with intensity.  Holding his gaze, she raised her hips and sank back down, watching his lids fall, veiling his eyes as his head tipped back in ecstasy.  Placing her hands on his smooth muscular chest, she balanced herself as she began to move on him.  
  
Meeting her movements, his hips moved back and pressed forward again and she pushed her own down to meet his.  She would never know how it happened, how they communicated when and how to move together so perfectly, but they increased their paces together, pressing their hips to meet, allowing him to sink as deep as possible with each thrust.  
  
The sensations were incredible.  It was so much better than the fumbling, unsatisfying couplings she had with Jimmy.  Even better than the little pocket vibrator she used when she filled her mind with Clark.  
  
This was Lex Luthor -- her enemy and ally -- and it was incredible.  
  
The slide of his cock as she moved on him hit a spot deep inside that pulsed with sensation whenever he slid across it, building a pressure within that had her grasping him tighter and tighter.  Small squeaky noises came from her throat uncalled as she sought something just out of reach but getting closer.  Lex moved one of his hands to where there bodies joined and began teasing at her clit and the pressure amplified a thousandfold.  Her hips began moving on him in a faster and faster tempo as she felt the pressure pounding in her core, behind her eyes, against her heart.  
  
She wanted to speak, wanted to say his name, to beg, to plead, but they had agreed to no words.  So instead she choked out a begging sound, knowing he would understand.  She wanted to release, but she just couldn't break.  
  
She felt a hand on her face and her eyes snapped open.  The eyes that met hers were still the same bright, stormy blue, but deeper now with passion.  She felt his hips pull back with a portentous movement and as he pushed forward hard as she sank down onto him, giving her just what she needed.  
  
Keening with an almost animal cry, she let go.  Through the explosion of fireworks that were going off in every nerve ending, she heard Lex shout and go rigid in her.  The sensation of him pulsing in her set off a new wave of bursting pleasure and she joined him as she went over the edge again.  
  


* * *

  
  
They still didn't speak for a long time after.  Not even when Lex withdrew from her and got up from the bed.  He opened his mouth as if the speak, but closed it again without saying anything.  Then he moved toward the bathroom and closed the door.  A moment later, she heard the shower run.  
  
Chloe collected her clothes from where they were scattered all over the floor and dressed.  She snatched the car keys that also had her room keys attached from the dresser where Lex must have discarded them last night.  Letting the door close audibly behind her, Chloe left Lex's room and walked next door to her own.  She needed to shower and change as well.  
  


* * *

  
  
_What the hell was that?_ Lex thought to himself as the hot water flowed over him.  He'd heard the door slam almost ten minutes ago, but he was still just standing here under the pouring water.  
  
The...sex?  Fucking?  --  he shied away from calling it anything else -- had been incredibly hot and the orgasm had nearly caused him to black out, but...that wasn't how he fucked.  
  
That had been something else.  
  
And damned if he had any idea what it was.  
  
He had felt right and possessive and...complete in a way he never had before.  Not with any of the thousand nameless women he bedded, not with Desiree or Helen.  Not even with the prize he had fought so hard to win -- only to find he had made a grievous error -- Lana.  
  
He thought Chloe might have had the right of it when she had whispered, "This isn't real."  
  
He had no idea what that was, but it couldn't have been real.  Not the real her.  Not the real him.  
  
 _Unless it was..._  
  
God damn it.  
  


* * *

  
  
An hour later, Chloe heard a knock on her room's door and moved to answer it.  
  
Lex was dressed back in one of his normal dark suits with a crisp lilac shirt underneath.  She saw him look over her own outfit, which was also back to her normal style -- a patterned top with a pair of slacks.  
  
"My jet will be meeting us at a little airstrip about 30 minutes from here to take us back to Smallville.  Are you ready to go?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, " she replied as she picked up her bag.  
  
She didn't ask if Lex had checked them out from the small motel or if he had packed up all their camera and surveillance gear.  He wouldn't have knocked if anything else needed to be done.  
  
Under an hour later, they were airborne on their way back to Smallville.


	8. Chapter 8

Amazing Banner by: [](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/profile)[**malugargula**](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/)

 

It wasn't even noon yet, but Lex poured himself a drink from the onboard liquor cabinet of the jet.  He needed something to busy his hands and a glass of scotch would work.  He held the bottle up as an offer to Chloe, but she shook her head without really paying him any attention.  Getting back into his seat, he sipped his drink and watched the blonde furiously typing away on her laptop.  
  
A few pieces had fallen into place.  
  
When he had showered, his hands had worked over an unmarred body.  He hadn't thought about it until now, still so lost in their unexpected encounter this morning.  But now his mind was working properly again.  The bullet wounds had been gone, as if they never existed.  Then he thought of her almost dead state in the car, and he finally understood her power and what she had done.  
  
A healer.  She was a fucking healer.  
  
And not just that.  She _took on_ the wounds of those she healed.  He had taken the bullets to save her, and she had turned around and taken them back to save him.  Even to the point of her own almost-death.  
  
The revelation gave him pause.  In all his studies and experiments on the meteor-infected he had never come across anything like it.  All the cases he had found had worked in only one of two ways.  The powers either caused detriment to others, or gave power to the meteor-infected.  He hadn't found a single case where the meteor infected individual had a power that helped others, and caused harm to themselves as a result.  
  
The knowledge that such a power -- that such a person -- existed, changed all his assumptions about the freaks and how to handle them.  What if he had been looking at the freaks the wrong way?  He had been so focused on containment and protection from them because of their dangerous gifts.  What if he should have been looking at ways to channel them into doing something good for mankind directly?  Growing their powers, not just to see how much he could, or to drain them for some exterior application, but so they themselves could do good for world?  Chloe could be just the first of the...meta-humans that could channel their powers for good and not destruction.  
  
But that opened a new thought.  Could people want to do good, but just got lost along the way?  
  
Lex didn't pretend to himself that he was a good man, but the last few days with Chloe he had felt like a better man.  Someone worthy of...he wasn't sure what.  But he wanted to find out.  
  
"Chloe?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Why did you save me?"  
  
Her fingers froze on the keys for a long moment, before resuming their typing.  "I don't know what you mean."  
  
He looked at her hard.  "Don't lie to me, Chloe.  I know you have some sort of healing ability.  Not even my high white blood cell count would save me from triple gunshot wounds.  You did something..."  His voice dropped low.  "And nearly died for it.  You know who I am and what I've done, and you still chose to save me.  I have to know _why._ "  
  
Chloe shifted uncomfortably.  "These past few days, and then when you pushed me clear of the bullets...I thought I saw something.  Something in you.  Something of who you used to be."  Her eyes rose and held his.  "Who you could be again if you tried."  
  
A strange hope and lightness filled his chest.  He had thought himself truly a monster by now.  He had thought that after all he had done, no matter how necessary, that he would always be written off as soulless.  He had only done what he thought he must, but with the power he had wielded, he hadn't expected to ever see the light again.  
  
But here Chloe sat, the very real and human champion of good and light, telling him he wasn't lost.  For years now, he had seen her as both his equal an his opposite.  She was the light, while he was the dark.  They worked for the same goal, but while his methods had compromised and twisted him, she somehow remained light and warm.   She fought against him from the shadows, but only so she could bring his works into the light.  This girl that had taken down Lionel Luthor, he had never underestimated.  He had never written her off the way a foolish man would have because of her age and background.  He knew better.  Her drive and intelligence, her heart and resolve, had always been equal to his own.  That was part of why he had let her stay free, even after uncovering she was meteor infected.  The world would have been a smaller, darker place without her moving in it.  
  
And now this small force of nature said she saw something in him that was good.  Something worth saving.  
  
Hearing that, after she had nearly given her life for his, it triggered something in him.  That a person as warm and...good as Chloe thought he was worth saving -- even at the risk of her own life -- meant something.  He hadn't thought about it at the time, but when he had seen that gun pointed at her, a part of him knew that if either of them made it out alive, it should be her.  He really wanted her methods to be the way to protect the world.  
  
So he had taken the shots instead.  
  
He didn't know anyone that was willing to lay down their lives for his, except maybe the security teams he paid for protection.  And even then, he wasn't really sure if when push came to shove, they would have.  None of the women he had married would have been willing to do so.  In fact, they mostly tried to kill him.  Even Lana had tried to destroy him.  There was a time Lana may have _killed_ for him, but she never would have _died_ for him.  
  
Yet Chloe Sullivan had been willing to give up her life for his.  He had expected to die, but then she had flipped the game on him.  She had given him back the gift of his own life.  
  
And he found himself wanting to be worthy of that gift.  
  
Last night, he had told himself he was claiming her as he slid into her body, but it seemed she had the true claim -- on him.  
  
And what about what had happened this morning?  Was that extraordinary sex a way of reaching back into himself?  When she had looked into his eyes, who had she seen looking back?  The person he was now -- all sharp angles and twisted soul -- or some better version of himself?  
  
"But what if you are wrong?  What if I truly am the monster everyone thinks I am?"  
  
"Then I guess I'd be wrong in my assessment of you."  She paused.  "Wouldn't be the first time."  
  
They were both silent for a long moment.  Then very softly and sincerely Lex said, "Thank you."  
  
She shrugged in reply, but he could tell she was moved by the simple declaration.  She resumed her typing a moment later.  
  
He continued to watch her, but finally his natural curiosity set in, and he pushed his deep thoughts aside.  
  
"What are you typing so industriously over there, Chloe?" he asked.  
  
"Story for Grant," she replied.  
  
"You have got to be joking.  You can't publish any of this."  He responded in a disbelieving tone, waving his hand to indicate everything about their situation.  She had to know that he wouldn't let her write a story about what they had done the last few days.  The informant was still at large, and they had no way of knowing if this was an isolated incident or not yet.  It would take some major digging to see if any other disasters pointed squarely at Luthorcorp were in the offing.  
  
Not to mention that her father was still number one on his suspect list as a mole.  
  
The look she gave him was pure annoyance.  "Of course not, but I have been gone for nearly a week supposedly working on a story about you.  I have to have something to turn in."  
  
His disbelief faded, to be replaced by amusement.  "Don't you think then that you should ask me some questions?"  
  
She didn't look up.  "Nope.  I'm going to do something with the interview I did with you from The Torch.  I'm thinking a retrospective interview.  Something like what you answered then and what you've done since."  
  
Lex raised a brow at her.  "The interview from seven years ago?"  
  
"That's the one."  
  
"You think people will want to read a rehash?"  
  
In reply, she started reading a section from that long-ago interview.  
  
" _Mr. Luthor, what do you most hope to accomplish with your work at Luthorcorp Plant #3 here in Smallville?  Reply: I hope to build a solid economic base for our community with good-paying jobs and quality products for which we can be proud._ "  
  
Looking up at him, she continued, "So what do you think, Lex?  Did you build an economic base with good-paying jobs and quality products?"  
  
He smiled.  "That sounded like an interview question."  
  
She shrugged, trying for nonchalance, but Lex saw through the ploy.  She was trying to get an interview without actually having to ask for one.  She didn't want to owe him any debts, even though the cover story had been his idea.  
  
After all they had been through the last few days, a part of him was glad to see that some things hadn't changed.  Chloe was still Chloe.  He was the one looking through new eyes.  The Chloe he had always known was still the same.  She still wanted to act on her own initiative -- using her own wits and drive to get what she needed.  She didn't see their teaming up or the sex as a pathway for her advancement.  She was still going to challenge him at every turn to accomplish what she thought should be done.  
  
He found himself happy at the prospect.  
  
Smiling, he replied, "Well, Chloe, since you ask..."


	9. Chapter 9

Amazing Banner by: [](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/profile)[**malugargula**](http://malugargula.livejournal.com/)

 

Two days.  
  
It had been two days since she and Lex had returned to Metropolis from Nebraska.  Two days where she hadn't caught more than a glimpse of him.  
  
And two nights where her body yearned for him.  
  
She tried not to think about that.  
  
To keep her mind occupied, as well as to follow up on their mission, she hacked the Savage Inc. servers.  From there, she was able to keep a careful eye on the distribution records.  She had seen no signs that the material was being prepared for shipment anymore.  In fact, just this morning a new report had been generated about "the accident" at the Nebraska plant that had destroyed eight truckloads of soil.  Savage Inc. was writing it off as a loss.  
  
That had done it.  
  
She knew she should be unashamedly happy, but instead she felt oddly conflicted.  She was proud of the fact they had stopped the disaster, but confused by her desire to share the victory...with Lex.  Usually the victories were _against_ Lex.  So why did she want to call and share in the triumph with him?  
  
Why did she really want to see him at all?  
  
He was Lex Luthor, for goodness sake!  She should be running away as fast as Clark now that he knew about her meteor power.  What if she was wrong about seeing something in him?  Maybe it had all been an isolated incident -- his working on the side of good.  
  
But still, she found herself thinking of how best to share the exciting news in a way that didn't seem like she was eager to celebrate the win.  With him.  
  
Maybe she was wrong to want to celebrate anyway.  There were still so many open questions.  
  
_Who was the informant?_  
Were there still dangerous moles that were willing to hurt innocents to strike at Luthorcorp?  
Were more attacks planned?  
Was her father involved??  
  
Too many questions and still so few answers.  Questions that she also found herself wanting to discuss with Lex.  
  
And maybe she missed him.  Just a little bit.  
  
Missed his sharp wit and rarely-seen humor.  Missed his stormy blue eyes that seemed to see all of her in a way no one else ever had. Missed his fierce determination and drive that could do so much good instead of harm if only he saw more clearly.  
  
Missed his hands on her body.  
  
Damn it.  
  
She started typing.  
  


* * *

  
  
_Lex,_  
  
Savage Inc. has written off what happened at the Nebraska plant as "an accident."  All affected soil was destroyed.  
  
We won.  
  
\--Chloe  
  
  
Lex stood looking out the window of his office, sipping on a glass of scotch.  The email from Chloe had been good news.  Short and to the point, it confirmed all they had risked the past week had been worthwhile.  
  
They had won the day.  
  
So why did it all feel hollow without her here with him?  He really shouldn't care as long as he had won.  He had never before felt the need to share his victory.  
  
He had kept himself away from her for the past two days as his mind worked over what had happened.  He needed to think over the truths and questions that had been uncovered during his time with Chloe Sullivan.  
  
Was he not as lost a soul as he had thought?  Could he really be a better man?  Did he want to be?  
  
He turned away from the window and back to the monitor with its live security camera feed of the basement level of The Daily Planet.  One truth he couldn't deny as he watched her typing away at her desk -- he missed her.  She had nearly died to save him, but that wasn't most what he thought of now as he watched her.  He missed her smile, her humor, the way she pushed him and made him question his decisions, the snap in her eyes, and the catch of her breath when he filled her.  
  
And judging by the way she kept refreshing her email, he had to wonder if she missed him too.  
  
His email dinged again.  Lex turned to check the message and felt a smile curve his lips.  Sometimes fate worked in mysterious ways.  
  


* * *

  
  
Another email.  Chloe tried to ignore the strange jump in her stomach when she saw the sender was once again lex.luthor@luthorcorp.com.  
  
_Penpal contacted me again.  Meet at Luthor mansion tonight at 8pm?_  
  
Penpal?  For a moment, Chloe looked at the screen uncomprehending.  That wasn't the reply she had expected.  Not that she had really expected a reply.  Or wanted one.  
  
_Stop lying to yourself, Chloe._ _You've refreshed your email ten times in the last six minutes._  
  
She brought her mind back to the task at hand.  Did Lex mean the informant who had sent him the information about the Savage Inc. project had reached out again?  If so, what did Deep Throat have to say this time?  
  
She glanced at the clock.  She would need to leave right now, but she could make it back to Smallville with time to spare.  Lois wasn't at her desk, so Chloe scrawled a quick note for her that she would be busy tonight.  Then she got up and grabbed her coat, just as Jimmy appeared at her desk.  
  
"Hey, where's the fire, Chloe?  I had hoped you would have time now to look over these shots from the Coatesville Dog Show with me."  
  
She stopped, unsure for a moment.  She had told Jimmy she would help him before she had gone away with Lex.  "Oh, Jimmy, I was just..."  
  
_"Have you found your true calling writing about craft fairs and lost kittens?"_ she heard Lex's smirking voice say in her head.  
  
She firmed her resolve.  Yes, she could stay and help Jimmy with his dog show pictures instead of joining Lex to investigate what the informant had to say.  Before this week, a part of her had thought she and Jimmy might be able to build something again if they tried.  But that would mean staying on the sidelines.  And that really just wasn't who she was.  She was the girl that broke into secure facilities with vexing billionaires to save people from harm.  She didn't want to settle by looking over dog show pictures when she could be doing something good...with someone that was trying to do good as well.  She didn't want to live a PG-13 version of her life.  She wanted what she did to matter.  
  
And she wanted to matter to someone.  
  
And strangely, working with Lex against Savage Inc., she had mattered.  Yes, the things she did with Clark were important too, but with him she was the sidekick, she was support.  Working with Lex, she was...a partner.  
  
Her cheeks flamed, remembering the time in the motel.  And she had been...well appreciated in a way she never had with Clark, and certainly not by Jimmy, despite his efforts.  
  
"Sorry, Jimmy, but there is someplace I need to be."  
  


* * *

  
  
"Sorry I'm late, Lex, but traffic was..."  Chloe's voice trailed off when she saw who stood in the study with Lex.  
  
"Dad?"  
  
Gabe Sullivan turned around and smiled at her.  "Hey Honey," he greeted her.  She hadn't seen him since she had gone off the Met U three years ago, when he had moved out of state for a job.  Followed by another out-of-state job.  Then finally, to a job supposedly someplace in Europe a few months back, when he seemed to go completely radio silent.  She had told herself it was because of the cost of international calls...but he hadn't even emailed.  
  
So the last person she expected to see in Lex's study was Gabe Sullivan.  
  
Her throat threatened to close on her, but she forced out the words.  "W-What are you doing here?"  
  
He smiled sadly.  "Trying to do the right thing."  
  
"What?"  
  
He let out a sigh and indicated Lex with a motion of his hand.  "I'm the one that sent the manifest and pictures to Lex."  He paused, waiting for that to sink in, before continuing.  "He told me about how you helped him put a stop to what Savage Inc. was trying to do."  His expression softened.  "I'm so proud of you."  
  
She blinked, not sure if she was more surprised by his admission or his praise.  He hadn't said he was proud of anything she had done since before Lionel Luthor had used him to hurt her.  So the only thing she could think to say was, "But why...?"  
  
Lex cut him, in a firmer voice.  "Yes, Mr Sullivan.  Why send me the pictures and the manifest?  You must know how it made you look seeing that file."  
  
Gabe sighed.  "Yes, I did, but I needed you to take the threat seriously and personally.  I guessed that by showing you that the loss happened under your leadership, you would handle it with utmost priority."  He paused.  "Even if I had to go down with it."  
  
"Don't take this the wrong way, Gabe, but you've never been the altruistic type.  Why risk it?" Lex asked.  Chloe was glad he asked that pointed question, because then she wouldn't have to.  
  
Gabe shook his head.  "It wasn't altruism.  It was guilt.  I fucked up.  I didn't do it on purpose, but it was my oversight in not checking those barrels were destroyed.  It was part of my responsibility, but I let so much slide because I was angry at you for abandoning Lexcorp.  Two minutes to check the transfer documents, and this couldn't have happened."  A sad smile crossed his face before he continued.  "Then a few months back, I was doing blue-collar auto parts stocking in Tampa, when I got the call from Savage Inc.  They offered me a job managing a plant again, and I jumped at it.  Stupid me, I though my ship had finally come in."  
  
Then his eyes turned pained.  "It wasn't until I saw what they were doing, and who they were working against, that I finally understood why they sought me out.  They had a dual hold over me.  They had the manifest pointing right to me, and they knew I had a grudge against the Luthors.  To them, I was the perfect employee for this type of operation.  But when I saw what they were planning, I couldn't let it happen."  
  
Gabe's gaze moved to catch Chloe's eyes.  "I guess that need you have to see justice done could be hereditary."  His smile was still sad.  "I wish I had understood before now.  Before..."  
  
Chloe finished the sentence for him.  "Before you have to go underground."  
  
He nodded.  "Yeah.  It won't take Savage Inc. long to figure out who gave them up.  Especially not after I swiped this."  He produced a disk from inside his jacket pocket.  "This is everything I was able to pull from the Savage Inc. computers over the last few days."  He handed the disk to Lex and his look was serious.  "The shipment of meteor-rock contaminated fertilizer from the plant isn't the only thing they've taken from Luthorcorp."  He paused for a moment, holding Lex's gaze steady.  "And it is nowhere near the worst.  You have to track down the other projects and stop them or a lot of people are going to suffer."  
  
Lex nodded, taking the disc.  "I understand."  
  
Gabe turned back to face Chloe.  "I'm sorry we don't have more time, Honey.  So sorry that I wasted what we did have."  
  
Tears blurred her eyes, but Chloe ran into her father's arms, and she hugged him with all her strength.  He hugged her back.  For the first time in years, _he hugged her back._  
  
Then they all heard the unmistakable whump-whump-whump sound of a helicopter landing.  Gabe slowly extricated himself from Chloe and used a sleeve to wipe tears from his eyes.  "I think that is my ride."  He turned and looked at Lex.  "Take care of my girl."  
  
Chloe expected Lex to tell Gabe she wasn't his responsibility, though there was a slight possibility he might play nice for Gabe's sake and say "I will."  
  
Instead Lex smiled, and Chloe was surprised to see it reach his eyes.  "No offense, Gabe, but if you think she needs me to protect her, you need to think again."  
  
Gabe blinked in surprise, while Lex continued, "But what I can do is set up some sort of safe conduit for you two to communicate.  The new identity I set up for you has multiple separation layers, but I have set up both routine and panic protocols if you need to reach me...or her."  
  
Gabe nodded in response.  "Thank you, Lex."  Still holding Chloe's hand he met her eyes.  "I'll be in touch this time.  I promise."  He kissed her forehead and then disappeared from her life again.  
  
Chloe sat back into one of the study chairs, looking sightlessly at the stained-glass window that dominated most of one wall.  A few moments later, the whump-whump-whump sound of a helicopter grew faster then started fading from hearing.  Lex walked over to the sideboard and pulled down two crystal glasses and a decanter of some liquor.  He poured a generous amount of amber-colored booze into each glass and walked back to where Chloe sat.  Holding out one of the glasses, he said, "I think we both need this."  
  
Chloe accepted the glass and took a large swallow, making a face as the fire of the alcohol hit her throat and caused her eyes to water.  Coughing, she gasped out "Thanks."  
  
Lex smirked, but for once she didn't want to slap his face for it.  "No problem.  We had a deal, and it was the least I could do for my...partner."  
  
Her head snapped up.  "What?"  
  
Lex shrugged.  "Well, you heard him.  Savage Inc. is still a dangerous threat and needs to be neutralized.  I assumed you would want in on it."  
  
Chloe blinked.  Was Lex asking her to keep working with him?  Even with the information her father had just handed over?  "Yes, but..."  
  
Lex cut her off.  "After all, I still think there is a Luthorcorp mole, and trust is a tough thing to find."  His voice grew deep and low.  "And I trust you.  I trust that you'll get to the bottom of this.  You'll stick your nose where it has no business being, until you find the truth, all in the name of keeping people safe."  
  
Chloe felt her eyes narrow at the 'stick your nose where it has no business being' comment, but didn't deny the truth of it.  "That may be true, but what about you?  Why not just expose Savage Inc. and be done with it?"  
  
He raised an eyebrow at her.  "Do you think that Sullivans are the only ones that can take responsibility?"  His voice grew harsh.  "This is my company they want to bring down, and they want to corrupt everything I've been working for to do it.  I will NOT allow that to happen."  His voice changed tone again, becoming light though she still heard a bit of tension in it, even though he smiled.  "So what do you say, Chloe?  Care to help save the world with me again?"  
  
Her heart seized, but she ignored it.  "Lex, I can't.  The Planet..."  
  
He snorted.  "Don't be stupid.  You'll stay at The Planet, of course.  You'll still need a cover while we investigate the leads on this."  He held up the disc.  
  
She mattered.  Her answer mattered.  He wanted her to say yes, but wasn't trying to force her.  No blackmail, no threats.  It was almost too strange for words, but something in her wanted to leap at the chance.  
  
She fought the urge to say 'Yes,' and placing her empty glass down, got up from the chair.  "Lex, this was a one-off, I can't help you..."  
  
His eyes bored into hers.  "Then why did you save me if not to do something better?  To do things like prevent what almost happened in Nebraska from happening again?"  
  
"Lex, I..."  
  
"I know what you are, Chloe, remember?  I know what you can do."  He put his own drink down and made his way across the room until he stood inches away from her.  Her body was leaning towards his without bothering to check with her head first.  His hands reached up and cupped her face as his eyes searched hers.  "You are unique, but that doesn't mean you are alone."  She blinked, confused.  "Your power helps others, not yourself.  I didn't know that could happen.  Now I wonder if I've been looking at the meteor-infected wrong.  They might not all just be problems to be solved and contained.  What if you are the first of those that can actually _help_ the world?"  
  
She snorted.  "Yeah, like I can heal every person on Earth."  
  
He smiled.  "No, but you want to.  Look at what happened with me.  And I know the strength of your will, your drive.  You'll kill yourself in the effort, and by so doing you would make the world a darker place."  Then his eyes grew hard.  "And I won't let that happen."  
  
She pulled away.  "What do you mean you 'won't let that happen.'  What I do is my choice.  Not yours."  
  
His smile returned.  "True.  I could lock you up, but something tells me you would still find yourself free.  So instead, I offer you this."  He held up the disk again.  "Something worth living for."  
  
He eyes moved to the disc.  He had gotten her true to rights.  She had died several times already with her power.  She hadn't begrudged the sacrifice, because she had felt the lives she saved had more value than hers, but one day she might not come back.  Lex's counter of offering something she had been born to do was hard to deny.  Her eyes flashed up to meet his, and she saw something else there.  Something she remembered from years ago...and days ago.  
  
He was letting her see inside himself.  Not the facade of "Lex Luthor" but the real him.  Just Lex.  
  
And that Lex didn't want to lose her.  
  
Something deep in her stirred at that realization.  She felt she had known him once, and over the last few days she saw glimpses of that person.  When she had decided to heal him, it was because she had seen something in him worth saving.  When he taken the bullets meant for her, she had thought that for the first time in years, she thought he saw it too.  
  
He wanted to do something better, to protect his company and innocent people.  And he wanted her help.  
  
Wanted _her._  
  
It wasn't a promise that he would change overnight.  It wasn't even a declaration of love.  
  
Because, honestly, she wouldn't have believed either.  
  
But it was a first step.  
  
She found herself smiling back.  "Alright, Lex.  I'll help you."  
  
He smiled and it reached his eyes.  She saw the unasked question in their blue depths, and replied with her own.  
  
Then he lowered his head and caught her lips in a kiss.  
  
It felt like a new day, a new beginning.  For both of them.  
  
  
\-- THE END --

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was created for the Winter 2014-15 SecretChlex exchange for apeygirl.
> 
> Apeygirl asked for:  
> 1.chlex as enemies aligning for a cause/forced to work together  
> 2.extreme sexual tension  
> 3\. early season 7 (before Lex's big downslide)
> 
> I think I got it all in there. This was a challenge as apeygirl wrote a big S7 Chlex story. I wanted to do something that felt like it fit with her beloved canon, but obviously didn't happen. Though it should have -- Dammit!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was created as part of the winter 2014/15 SecretChlex exchange for apeygirl.


End file.
